Comments by "Jim Luebke" (@jimluebke3869) on "The Critical Drinker" channel.

  1. Rey was created by women, whose most miraculous power in this life (the ability to create new human beings) is given to them without any effort on their part whatsoever. "What shall I do with this awesome power that I have?" is a legitimate question for women to ask. BUT it's at right angles to a Hero's Journey, which is at the foundation of Star Wars. So she doesn't belong, as the center of the story.
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  2.  @Mikito456  I think you should back away from fashionable ideology and look at this from the perspective of general human experience. In that general human experience (which, if our society ignores it, will lead to the society vanishing entirely) women have babies, and our human stories reflect the characteristics of that phenomenon. When something is specifically coded female, like the Mary Sue archetype is, it relates directly to that. When a woman is given miraculous powers she has done nothing to gain, it has absolutely nothing to do with the Hero's Journey. That's why Rey's (or any Mary Sue's) story does not resonate (does not belong) at the center of a saga devoted to the Hero's Journey. As a side character, sure, but not as the main.
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  3.  @Mikito456  I think that our common humanity (both with one another today and with past generations) means archetypes are unlikely to change. Reality is likely to drive ideologies towards existing archetypes, more than archetypes can be driven towards ideologies.
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  4.  @Mikito456  It's only unoriginal if you've seen the movie before. Star Wars is often called a "kid's movie" because to many adults it's a rehash. And no, I don't think that archetypes are likely to be affected by "gender and sexuality" at all. Gender is only meaningful insofar as it deals with reproduction (other stories, which affect men and women equally, are human stories, not gendered stories). Stories about atypical sexualities will never be more than niche subculture -- archetypes are generalizations after all, and generalizing from exceptions is a self-contradiction.
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  5.  @Mikito456  That's the thing, culture is built on the reality of the human condition. Cultures that ignore that don't last; the word "decadence" exists for a reason, and its association with a loss of classical virtue also exists for a reason.
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  6.  @Mikito456  Decadence has nothing to do with "the expense of others"; it's a matter of waste and weakness caused by a loss of virtue. Many societies collapse when women tend not to give birth. A collapsing birthrate was apparent during the fall of the Roman Republic, for example, then again during the fall of the Roman Empire. Were Shakespeare's Julius Caesar or Milton's Satan not complex relatable villains? How about Enkidu, for heaven's sake? I don't think there's too much new under the sun. It's narcissistic to think that today is so much different, story-wise. If you'd like to claim that some things go in and out of fashion, I'd buy that, although there are through lines even so... these are called Archetypes, and they don't really change.
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  7. So is this the knee in the curve, where TCD truly becomes the rancorous raconteur we know and love?
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  8. This is what happens if you take the source material and make it LESS Woke. =) Seriously, a LOT less Woke. The books are drivel.
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  9. I blame Shakespeare. The man couldn't write an original story to save his life.
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  10. The Right Stuff did a decent job of addressing both male and female sides of the story, with the wives of the pilots and astronauts.
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  11. Ed Harris is 70. Sometimes, the years just hit you hard.
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  12. George Martin is a nihilist. That is obvious from his writing. He is incapable of wrapping up a story.
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  13. I'm confused by the visuals here. Did they get Andrew Lloyd Weber for the soundtrack or something?
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  14. The takeaway is that the SFC's are the villains here. They're building an archetype that will be used for generations to come.
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  15. The healthy virtue of endless patience is probably in order here.
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  16. "A Mandalorian has to earn his armor piece by piece." Just like in EverQuest?
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  17. So Drinker, have you ever read the Flashman series?
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  18. (Stomp stomp clap, stomp stomp clap) BBC, BBC Say goodbye to your license fee!
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  19. Does the Ukraine thing mean that the Klingons are the bad guys again? I mean, proper conquering-warrior bad guys?
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  20. Gandhi II is my favorite, such a great character arc!
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  21. Horrible thought, for Disney strategists -- what if "Family-friendly" is a lane, rather than a freeway? Back in the day, Disney was just one channel, not a whole network. In a world of three or four media outlets, Disney can't be one of them.
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  22. Shockingly gentle. Huh.
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  23. Multiverses are basically the save-scumming of the cinematic world.
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  24.  @kevincarter2020  My friend, I hope you never go to bars alone. Bring guys with you that you trust, and if they say a girl is bad news, listen to them.
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  25. With all due empathy, men who cry at this are emotionally damaged. Women who are in favor of men crying, are either cowardly or cruel, possibly both.
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  26. The eclectic mix of medieval civilization and neon is part and parcel of Japan's unique experience, modernizing rapidly during the Meiji era.
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  27. So... watch with the sound off, then? Or wait for the internet to cut all the non-Gal Godot scenes first?
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  28. Want a pretentious deep-dive "analysis" of the Deeper Meaning(TM) of this movie? I have an idea! The avatar of Japan, nature, and nuclear destruction is fighting with the avatar of America who is the king but kinda tired and even isolationist these days, but then they team up at the end to beat up the avatar of transnational corporations based in China, which they finally defeat with nuclear-powered American weaponry. This is Japan giving the United States permission to nuke China! Oh, and India and Australia can come along for the ride, but only as comic relief.
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