It’s not like movies put food on your table or anything. I guess most films are basically just a way to kill some free time. They help you unwind, and maybe—just maybe—you pick up something useful here and there, but at the end of the day, it’s all just entertainment. I suppose art in general is pretty much that—kind of like a nice little extra in an otherwise busy life. But honestly, it would be pretty wild if I started judging you just because you haven't seen Goodfellas.
If you really appreciate cinema as an art form, maybe you should just try making your own. I guess there's no point in being passive and just watching what everyone else puts out there, whether it's mainstream movies or adult films.
Keith Miller30 said:Honestly, the way William Harrison speaks is just something else; I don't think I've ever encountered a more difficult orator. It’s as if he lacks any sense of rhythm or structure, where you can never quite tell when a sentence is supposed to end or where a comma or period should actually land because everything just flows together in one endless, flat line. My favorite part is watching the moderator sit there in silence, waiting for him to finish a thought, only to realize after a few awkward seconds that he was actually done.🤣 If he truly intends to pursue a career in politics, he really needs to take some serious steps to refine his delivery.☕
Honestly, I don't think he cares. He's just doing his own thing and sticking to his guns. Just keeps pushing forward. I guess he talks a lot of nonsense sometimes, but I respect that he stays consistent. It's a nice change from guys like Mitt Romney or whoever else is out there.
I think I’m on the same page as Walter Grant5. Must do is probably just silly, if you ask me. I guess there isn't really anything you *have* to do besides eventually passing away. It feels a bit much when people insist you absolutely have to watch certain movies, listen to specific music, or read certain books. Humans lived in the wilderness for tens of thousands of years—actually, hundreds of thousands—without even knowing what writing was until just a few millennia ago, and yet now someone claims you "must" experience something. For countless generations, people just wandered the earth without any clue about the world, let alone having to watch something like *The Wire* about life in Baltimore.
At the end of the day, you just need to find food and survive until you die. That's pretty much all there is to it, I suppose.
I guess I just can't wrap my head around anyone voting for the Republicans. Every other party has its flaws, sure, but they seem to be actually working for their spot through current policies or ideas, even if those ideas aren't always great. Maybe the progressives are chasing some kind of utopia and being a bit misleading, but at least they aren't leaning on past glories from decades ago to justify where they stand today.
I guess discussing figures from decades ago isn't really the role of a modern President in the 21st century; after all, those leaders have been gone for over thirty-five years now. They seem about as relevant today as Genghis Khan might be in parts of Asia—not particularly. Maybe that kind of stuff is better left to channels like the History Channel, though even they probably find our early colonial governors more interesting. Besides, today’s administration doesn't seem focused on those old debates, regardless of how successful they were at their core jobs. It feels like the only ones constantly digging through the past for support are the corrupt politicians in the Republican Party. They go so far back looking for votes that even the deceased might be getting counted for them.
Keith Miller30 said:Well, it seems our little group has grown by one more married man. ☕ Though, if we take a page out of Bagger's book—mentioning his wife so casually—he made it sound as trivial as a quick trip to the corner store for a loaf of bread. 🤣
There is actually a logical explanation for that, isn't there? Perhaps they simply used their mental discipline to slow down their hair growth. Some of history's most remarkable figures possessed such incredible mind-body connections; wasn't it said that Nikola Tesla could manipulate his own circulation, or that Da Vinci could control his blood pressure, or even that Voltaire had the ability to stop bleeding instantly? So, before you decide there was a continuity error in the film, perhaps consider the power of the human mind. ☕
I guess he’ll probably end things just as predictably as he started them. At least he seems committed to upholding those traditional values, though I suppose you could say he's acting like a modern-day version of a certain former president.
Walter Grant5 said:Saying it's *only* the parents is a stretch. The system is broken. The standard of living is broken. With most families nowadays, both parents are out working. That cuts into the actual quality time they could be spending with their kids. On the flip side, I wouldn't ignore the trends either. Never. Even adults fall for marketing, let alone kids. Kids are basically the target demographic for every gadget and tech company out there. And that influence is everywhere. It’s hard to raise a kid away from all this digital garbage when you have to account for how society reacts to that upbringing. The social standing of a kid raised like that is... weird. Experimental, almost. To actually fix things, you'd need either a massive, sudden societal shift—maybe some kind of shock to the system—or a slow, gradual change. Which is more likely.
Robin Fox2, it's tough to say who had it harder. Physically speaking, previous generations definitely had it rougher—exponentially so compared to us. But every era has its own mess. Who's saying it's any easier growing up in a world that's becoming increasingly dehumanized by technology?
But was it ever different? Both my parents worked, and I used to pick up my sister from daycare when I was starting elementary school. My brother was looked after by sitters our parents paid, or by my sister and me. My dad basically raised himself; he had to attend high school in a different city. Because of how he grew up, I didn't really feel like an adult until I was 23, even though I was 15 back then. And his father lived through both World Wars... so there's no "golden age" or perfect standard to point to. I think it's less about the quantity of time parents spend with kids, rather than just the quality. Kids don't necessarily need constant parental supervision; having time for themselves and their peers is important too. They need to figure out the world on their own sometimes, though parents should help broaden their horizons. For instance, my girlfriend's sister's husband bought their kid several phones and tablets. But what can you even say to them? If you try to give advice, they just get defensive, acting like because my girlfriend and I don't have kids, we don't know anything.
There is so much available today—you could dive into a million different hobbies or activities—yet most kids just spend all their time staring at screens. I guess it's just sad that a tiny virtual world is often more captivating to them than the massive, real world right in front of them.
Peter Thompson4 said:I don't buy it; it’s all on the parents, plain and simple. It’s their job to actually raise their kids, but apparently, everyone thinks being a parent is just too hard because modern adults have lost their damn minds. When I look at how many spoiled brats are running around these days, it honestly makes me want to scream, especially since they have zero clue they're basically sabotaging their own kid's future, but hey, not my circus, not my monkeys. Then you've got the complete opposite crowd who won't give their kids a single thing, treating them like they don't even exist, and honestly, you just have to find some middle ground.
It’s the exact same bullshit with dogs, too—people treat them like tiny human babies or whatever the hell (for the record, I have a dog), and that’s why everything is so high-strung and aggressive lately, because people refuse to treat an animal like an actual animal.
I think it's important to show kids today that there's more to life than just the internet. I don't have kids of my own, so I probably don't know how tough it is lately, but gadgets and screens seem to be everywhere. I guess there is much less time left for things like sports, music, or reading.
We could go on about this forever because the intersection of modern society and technology is such a complex mess. The internet holds basically all the world's knowledge at our fingertips, but I guess the real question is how many people actually bother using it for that. If you ask me, most people just use the web to kill time. Between the dominant social media platforms, streaming services, online shopping, adult content, and torrents—it’s mostly just mindless distraction. I doubt kids staring at tablets are spending their time reading Wikipedia or Mark Twain; they’re probably more likely to be playing Angry Birds or searching for something explicit on YouTube. I suppose that explains the obsession with selfie sticks; newer generations seem raised to crave those kinds of gadgets. I don't want to get all nostalgic and claim "things were better back then," especially since my own childhood was shaped by much heavier stuff like war, but it feels like previous generations had a tougher path, which maybe made them a bit bolder when making life decisions. People used to marry younger and didn't spend nearly as much time stressing over every little economic shift. Life is hard—it always has been and always will be—but today, these gadgets just sell us illusions. They tell you to drop $1333 on some Apple device and you'll suddenly be happy. Or buy a new Apple Watch because the media convinces you it's an absolute necessity. If a movie isn't in high-def 3D, apparently it's garbage. And so on.
Nowadays, parents just hand these things over to their kids, often multiple devices at once. I’ve seen plenty of cases where three or four-year-olds are already glued to mobile games on iPhones or tablets. The common excuse is that "this is how kids develop now" or "it's just the new generation." I guess I'm just not sure what they're actually developing into—maybe just people who only know how to navigate life through a touchscreen.
Back when I was paying for my own phones and plans, I used to upgrade to a new model every time my contract renewed. I remember spending about $333 on a Samsung, but then it ended up falling into the Mississippi River just a few weeks later. Later on, I actually got the exact same model from my company for free.
I actually got an iPhone 4 from my company for free, so I don't really care about the specs. Honestly, I wouldn't spend a single cent on one anyway, so it felt like a total slap in the face to see someone acting like such a fool over it.