@ slave2moonlight: I'm glad you didn't take it like I was attacking you with my post. That happens a lot lately on UD (not just to me), and I think it's nice when we can have an informed discussion.
slave2moonlight wrote:As for my talking about a certain other person, did I? I think I just said Comedy Central in general.
Okay, I thought you were talking about one person and assumed it must have been Stewart. I don't know Comedy Central that well. We get in The Netherlands, but it's very different from the American version, filled mainly with repeats of well-known sitcoms like
Scrubs and
Frasier etc. I always watch
The Daily Show online. Colbert's show got old pretty fast, at least to me.
slave2moonlight wrote:I think the argument that is often made about bashing democrats and republicans equally is a cop out. It hardly comes off as equal, and hardly with the same spirit. Perhaps when one leans towards the side the commentators are on, it is harder to see that.
Maybe that has something to do with the parties that are being covered? The Democrats are often portrayed negatively for being weak ("pussies"), ineffective, in-fighters or sell-outs. You can make fun of that, but it's not as spectacular as the folks on the (far) right. I mean, the Tea Party people, headed by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin are making more outlandish statements day after day. It seems like they're trying to outbid each other when it comes to craziness. These people dress up like the Founding Fathers, holding signs depicting president Obama as Hitler or a monkey and scream " keep your governments hands of my Medicare!" You must admit, the left doesn't have those kind of people. That's why mocking the right may seem more harsh. But they do it onto themselves.
slave2moonlight wrote:But, really, back to whether or not they are one sided, despite bashing both, I really don't see how anyone could miss how extreme left someone like Maher is. He may not claim to be a "Democrat", I really don't know, but even when they have the panel segment, it seems like the point is to gang up on the invited right-winger.
First of all, I think it's important to note that what's considered 'extreme-left' in the US isn't really extreme. It's just that the national debate has been dragged so much to the right, that what used to be the center is now considered the 'left'. Thus farther to that new 'left' automatically becomes 'extreme'. The Democrats are still being called 'left' in the US media, but looking at their policies, you'll see they've been slightly right of center since the establishment of the DLC at the end of the 1980's. The last *real* leftist presidential candidate for the Democrats was Dukakis in 1988.
Second, this is why Maher has repeatedly hammered the Democrats and president Obama in particular during his 'New Rules' segment. He accuses them of not standing up for the American people anymore. According to Maher, the Democratic Party is suited for bankers, credit card companies, big pharma and hedgefund managers --the position the Republicans used to take. So one could hardly say Maher is a Democrat. He also takes a lot of stances that are very anti-leftist. He's very much in favor of capital punishment; he was a fan of Ron Paul, one of the most conservative members of Congress; and he unequivocally supports Israel, no matter how many international human rights it violates.
But you already said that was not the actual thing that bothered you, so I'll leave it at this.
slave2moonlight wrote:But, again, the only thing that bothers me is his "everyone who disagrees with me about anything is an idiot" attitude, that's all. Even if I agree with someone a lot, that is just not acceptable to me.
It depends. I think he really only takes that attitude when it comes to religion, and he can get very fanatical about that. I think that's because so many things in the US get overshadowed by religion. Gay people can't marry or serve openly in the military because of religion. Politicians claim the US was founded as a Christian nation, while it was not. Texas Board of Education wants to change the schools' history books to rewrite the part about prehistoric times because of their religion. I could name a million other examples. I think Maher believes religion is so powerful in his country, that he *has* to stand up so forcefully, because 'if you give them an inch...' That's why I can forgive him for that.
slave2moonlight wrote:As for the idea that viewpoints of people like Maher are not shown in American media often, as someone who lives in the U.S. I think that's a pretty outdated statement. Maybe back when he was on ABC that was true, but I don't think that's the case today, or at least I don't think they are as "shocking" today.
Really? I follow US media pretty closely, but none of the topics Maher discusses on his show are discussed anywhere else. Does any media outlet ever pay attention to the fact that it's not health care which causes the budget to get overboard, but the military? Has any media figure ever mentioned that the US spends more on the military than all other countries combined? Do the commentators from other channels call for ending the 'American empire' and closing all foreign military bases? Or take his stance on the 'culture of greed' in the US, or his stance on religion as a 'neurological disease'. These are highly controversial topics. And it's never touched upon by any mainstream politician
slave2moonlight wrote:Still, whether I'm right on that or wrong, I don't think that is a good case for such extreme arrogance about your opinions.
Maybe it also has something to do with the media culture? Most commentators are like that, from Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity to Ed Schultz and Keith Olbermann (whom I love, by the way).
slave2moonlight wrote:Incidentally, if you really love women like Selma Hayek and Penelope Cruz, you should move to the town I lived in all my life and just moved out of. [...] I have a theory that men are mostly attracted to types that seem exotic to them though,
Hmmm... I know plenty of white Dutchies who absolutely only want white Dutch girls. Not because of racist motives, but that's what they like. Me, I like all kinds of girls. I never had a 'type', like most other guys. I find it too limiting. Beauty is not bound to ethnicity, I always say. Though I must admit I'll be more inclined to show interest in a dark-skinned or Asian beauty.
slave2moonlight wrote:and for me the type that seems exotic, after growing up in that area, is the supposedly "All-American girl next door" type that Glen Keane described as a very average look when he was using it to design Ariel
See? And I placed Ariel at no.1 in my list of Disney characters that I would... Nah, let's not go there anymore (before I shock Disney Duster again).
slave2moonlight wrote:but I WOULD make an exception for Selena Gomez or Jessica Alba
*Everybody* would make an exception for Jessica Alba, man!
I derailed the thread again, I see. At least it was a 'necessary derailment', right, CJ?
I will defend Miley by saying that I liked her voicing the girl Penny in Bolt. Sure, it was probably some marketing executive who probably suggested she be in it, but it seems kinda fitting that a real life teen superstar was playing an animated equivalent. She did a good job overall, and not once did I think "oh god, it's Hannah Montana". Perhaps she just needs good material. 
