Posted on 07/18/2005 9:57:30 PM PDT by Eurotwit
Wasn't that "Arnold" from "Happy Days" as the karate instructor? That may have contributed to undermining the plausibility structures.
You would still have property in the form of land, spaceships, etc.. Who controls property? Ah, the "Federation".
Picard's statement "We have eliminated the need for money, we seek to better ourselves", and the idea of global government is marxism.
Star Trek is Marxist utopia.
"I sure hope that the F/11 crack was uncharacteristic on your part."
I had a point.
I assume that you didn't see it, as I didn't, and yet we have both read a good deal about it and heard it discussed, and think that we have enough information about it to have an opinion.
I'm quite willing to extend that assumption to you with regard to Moore's filth, yet you are unwilling to extend it to Potter poopers. If the subject is HP, one must have actually read the books before one can have a valid opinion.
"There are a few spells which Harry cannot successfully cast"
Being able to cast *any* spells is a short-cut to power.
"--if you were familiar with the book, we could discuss what that says about the kind of boy Harry is."
See my "F/11 crack."
"Most of the actions that you have cited are not glorified at all."
They turn out well in the end. That is sufficient glorification.
"And no, he does not go unpunished or unscathed for his digressions."
In the end, he is the victorious hero.
"You are trying to convince me that you're right and I'm wrong. Different goals."
The essence of debate is to present one's case as strongly as one can, consistent with truth. There have been several times that people have convinced me that I was wrong in such discussions, and I am grateful to them.
My goal is to arrive at the truth; if you can show me that the opinion I now hold is incorrect, I will be in your debt. But for that to happen, both parties have to take their best shots.
"When it comes to specific content of the book, however, having read it helps when arguing a point."
Only true when you are quibbling over irrelevant trivia. Otherwise, as with Farenheit 9/11, knowledge gained from reading about and discussing the work suffices.
"can't say that I agree with you there. Hogwarts (the Wizardry school the characters attend) is a very intense seven-year school."
But they have to have magical powers just to get in to the school. Muggles aren't admitted. And therein lies the parallel to Karate Kid.
Ahem,
The likes of "Orlando Furioso", "Amadis" and the Arthur myths are chock full of superhuman characters fulfilling their destinies.
These sorts of things were the fiction best-sellers right out of the gate when printing was invented. These are the books ordinary people wanted to have read out loud - see "Don Quixote" for an idea of their impact.
I think the questionable thing is that the "skill" in question is very powerful - but not particularly morally dependent. In reality, this is true of any skill, be it "magic" or "science."
Personally, I think the books are a good read, sort of on the "Five Children and It" level (famous British kids' book). But I have heard that the latest one is much more about the conflict between good and evil, and evokes Arturian (as in King Arthur) images relating to Britain. I
The Pope, btw, was simply responding to somebody's letter and obviously had never read the books himself. He simply said that a belief in magic - without morality - can corrupt, which is true. Look at the New Agers, who are firm believers in magic, ranging from crystals to thetans, but have absolutely no moral compass.
If what I have read about this latest book is true, however, this may take HP out of the magic, harmless or otherwise, category and move him into something much more significant.
"Yes, yes, I know. I'm a curmudgeon, a party pooper, and likely a mugwup."
That's "Potter pooper."
Been a Bloom fan since "The Closing of the American Mind."
Guffaw!
Just lost some beer. Maybe...Rowling is hinting at her secret Ophite snake worship leanings, eh? [silly sarcasm alert]
I think I may be with Prof. Bloom on this - that we are dealing with kitsch and a sort of P.T. Barnum culture phenomenon which could be nailed down by casting John Goodman in the next film. Willy Wonka meets the Addams Family. Do any kids really "read" these books in their entirety?
"Tonstant Weader Fwowed Up" is one of my favorite lines - although I thought the Pooh books were OK and read them to my kids. I liked Wind in the Willows better, but the kids did not.
Asimov was a much better writer than Hubbard.
I'm going to be 30 in two weeks and would really like it if I still counted as a kid to at least someone!! LMAO
That might require a lot more than 4 hours a day!
"But they have to have magical powers just to get in to the school. Muggles aren't admitted. And therein lies the parallel to Karate Kid."
So students who get admitted to MIT or Cal Poly-Tech are just like the Karate Kid because they went to schools where you actually have to be smart?
That's damning with faint praise.
"Wasn't that "Arnold" from "Happy Days" as the karate instructor?"
Guy's name is Morita. I've seen him in a million things, but during his time on Happy Days was mostly on ships at sea, so that didn't enter into it for me.
Theres no religion in "Potter", and the magic in it is treated as a technology, however advanced, not spirituality.
God bless you. LMBO
"So students who get admitted to MIT or Cal Poly-Tech are just like the Karate Kid because they went to schools where you actually have to be smart?"
I'd appreciate it if you'd make an effort to avoid leaps of illogic.
A parallel with the KK would be a D student with a 98 IQ who went to a special SAT prep school for six months and came out with a 165 IQ and a score of 1590.
A kid who gets admitted to those schools is not only smart, but has been demonstrating it for some years. In addition, unlike sudden Karate skills or magical powers, intelligence is real.
This always happens when I try to be creative.
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