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St Trinian's and The Culture Of Death
Aug. 13th, 2009 08:16 pmI think that would actually make quite a good title for the next film!
Anyway, Dave borrowed the modern St Trinian's film and we watched it at the weekend. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't really very good, either. I liked the first years, and there were isolated moments that were quite funny, but it was rather overdone and somewhat less than subtle. So, Dave downloaded the original St Trinian's film and we watched that on Tuesday. Acting-wise, humour-wise, script-wise and plot-wise, it was infinitely superior - I actually found it funny throughout, and anyone who knows me will realise that doesn't happen often, as I don't tend to get comedy.
About four years ago, when Dave and I were only six months into our relationship, we had a conversation which left me paranoid that he would lose interest in me once he found out I didn't have anything intellectual to talk about. Don't ask me what the conversation was about, because I really can't remember, and the whole thing seems very bizarre now! My response was to go immediately to Amazon and buy some books that I hoped would inspire profound discourse. The first of those was Architects Of The Culture Of Death by Donald De Marco and Benjamin Wiker. These two gentlemen are intensely religious nutters, who have written a book all about how the most eminent scientists and philosophers of the last couple of centuries have contributed to the growing "culture of death", which threatens the existence of humanity. It's very entertaining stuff, believe me!
The reason it's taken me four years to finish reading it is because I initially started out making notes as I went along (for quick reference during the subsequent profound discourse), but ran out of steam about half way through and never got round to carrying on. I just read the second half in the last couple of days, without bothering with the note-taking, and found it much easier.
Now, the scary thing about the book is that a lot of what the religious nutters say actually makes sense. This is because a lot of the people they're writing about were total nutters too, and it's easy to pick holes in their theories when you apply them universally in a practical sense. Examples would be Ayn Rand, Friedrich Neietzsche and Alfred Kinsey. However, where their argument falls down is that they always fall back on the same thing - in their view, anyone who is not violently opposed to abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia or atheism is inherently evil and dangerous, and that's most definitely where I can't follow them.
It's a fascinating read, and I'm glad I finished it - it's a really interesting exercise to read stuff by people you vehemently disagree with, and it certainly makes the brain work!
Anyway, Dave borrowed the modern St Trinian's film and we watched it at the weekend. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't really very good, either. I liked the first years, and there were isolated moments that were quite funny, but it was rather overdone and somewhat less than subtle. So, Dave downloaded the original St Trinian's film and we watched that on Tuesday. Acting-wise, humour-wise, script-wise and plot-wise, it was infinitely superior - I actually found it funny throughout, and anyone who knows me will realise that doesn't happen often, as I don't tend to get comedy.
About four years ago, when Dave and I were only six months into our relationship, we had a conversation which left me paranoid that he would lose interest in me once he found out I didn't have anything intellectual to talk about. Don't ask me what the conversation was about, because I really can't remember, and the whole thing seems very bizarre now! My response was to go immediately to Amazon and buy some books that I hoped would inspire profound discourse. The first of those was Architects Of The Culture Of Death by Donald De Marco and Benjamin Wiker. These two gentlemen are intensely religious nutters, who have written a book all about how the most eminent scientists and philosophers of the last couple of centuries have contributed to the growing "culture of death", which threatens the existence of humanity. It's very entertaining stuff, believe me!
The reason it's taken me four years to finish reading it is because I initially started out making notes as I went along (for quick reference during the subsequent profound discourse), but ran out of steam about half way through and never got round to carrying on. I just read the second half in the last couple of days, without bothering with the note-taking, and found it much easier.
Now, the scary thing about the book is that a lot of what the religious nutters say actually makes sense. This is because a lot of the people they're writing about were total nutters too, and it's easy to pick holes in their theories when you apply them universally in a practical sense. Examples would be Ayn Rand, Friedrich Neietzsche and Alfred Kinsey. However, where their argument falls down is that they always fall back on the same thing - in their view, anyone who is not violently opposed to abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia or atheism is inherently evil and dangerous, and that's most definitely where I can't follow them.
It's a fascinating read, and I'm glad I finished it - it's a really interesting exercise to read stuff by people you vehemently disagree with, and it certainly makes the brain work!
