This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Well, obviously we have very different tastes. I am looking at the list of HBO shows (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HBO_original_programming) and what I'd be at least somewhat interested in, of recent work, let's say past 2010?
House of the Dragon - yeah, kinda, somewhat weak sauce, but there are some strong points, wouldn't put is as a hit, but as a decent offering
Westworld - started awesome, went downhill fast, dropped it.
His Dark Materials - based on existing work, kinda decent though didn't see the last season yet
Game of Thrones - based on existing work, we all know how it ended in an utter disaster once Martin lost interest in finishing it
Silicon Valley - ok, this one is a hit. Full points for this one, no questions asked.
Perry Mason - didn't see it, may be interested, depending on how woke it'd be (I have no hope for non-woke, but whether it would be tolerable?) - conditional, on the strength of the franchise
This is basically it, feel zero interest to the rest of it. Maybe it's a golden age, but not for me.
Oh, I absolutely don't think them grabbing a share of the corporate profits is something wrong. I think their product is crap (ok, 90% crap, with a rare gem buried in it), but if it finds the market, then they deserve a share in it. But I personally wouldn't care either way - because for me, their product is not valuable.
Barry is pretty decent. Curb your Enthusiasm is just high quality. Boardwalk empire was also pretty decent.
More options
Context Copy link
It's pretty woke. I watched it all, but would treat the woker scenes as commercial breaks. I wasn't really invested. I generally like Matthew Rhys work, as a kid I loved Perry Mason.
I watched the first season and will embark on S2 soonish. What was woke about S1?
S1 was less woke than S2.
S2 continues with the diversity and adds more girl-bossing and sexual degeneracy.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
BTW I notice I can name a bunch of hits I liked pre-2010 easily: The Wire, The Sopranos, Rome, Carnivale, Oz, Angles in America, John Adams. Oh, forgot one - add Chernobyl to the hits, it's surprisingly decently done for an US series about USSR.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link