Ask The Gold Trumpet

[Gold Trumpet]

I'd change an in-between-the-lines problem. What I dislike about this board is the way a simple opinion can be handled my members who disagree. It will start with a newbie saying, "Oh I love this filmmaker." Then someone else will not only disagree with him, but also assume the newbie doesn't know any better because he is just a newbie. The problem is they don't offer anything themselves that is any more insightful than the original opinion. It gets down to my basic belief I think people here use their post count as leverage against others.

please provide an example of a newbie who this year has been attacked so unjustly as you describe. i direct you to this statement:

a newbs "hazing" experience is a direct reflection of the abhorrence of their posts.

like i've said millions of times, post count doesn't mean shit. Noyes was instantly a more respectable poster than brazoliange will ever be. who are the big hitters in post count that abuse this so called leverage only you seem to think they possess? i'm bothered by these antiquated notions of victimization you have. it's cool that maybe you don't think you are a vicitim so much anymore but now with this statement it's like your looking for a new non-cause to fight for.

to summarize: post count doesn't mean anything (other than a cool number like 10000, and even that's just a novelty), and i don't see how anyone uses their post count to bash others (i fully encourage good newbs to educate dumb newbs). it's ALWAYS been about quality, not quantity.

First off, I'm going not going to give an example. I have little interest in calling anyone out at this time.

Second, you misalign my statement. I didn't say newbies were being attacked. All my analogy pointed to is that I think some members are carrying themselves with an arrogance that has no justifcation and I think it is sometimes because of the post counts. Do I think post counts matter? Absolutely not. Do I think you think they matter? No. Do I think others think they matter? Sometimes, yes.

I have no interest to drag this out into anything. Considering that my original post has drawn more questions, let me be final right now:

I don't see much discussion going on anywhere for movies. I see a lot of people giving gut reactions to what they feel about a given movie. Usually that involves nothing more than a muddled paraphrase. Threads for movies start to turn into a consensus of whether everyone agrees to like or hate a movie. Sometimes when an unkown comes out and disagrees with the consensus someone will say something back that doesn't attack him but does aim to at least devalue his opinion. That is what I don't like.

[hedwig]

The honesty of George Mencia with racial and political stereotypes is the only ingrediant he has that makes him funny for me.

oh yeah, carlos mencia is hilarious with his honesty. it's about time someone got up there and SPOKE THE TRUTH. i like how he tells it -- LIKE IT IS. people get offended because he presents the harsh reality of dumb ass minorities and the truth hurts. and that's what mencia is, a hysterical and irreverent warrior of truth. here's some quotes of pure gold:

"Why did the 14-year old Mexican girl end up pregnant? Because her teacher told her to go do an essay!!!!!"   
"Now I admit I like Gold Digger, but Kanye West is a crazy nigger!!!!!!" 
"Hispanics don't blow sh*t up, they clean it up and build it up after you blow it up!!!!!"

i just love it! as a white person it's great to see a latino onstage making fun of latinos. it's like, SEE? HE DOES IT! IT'S OKAY FOR US TO DO IT TOO!! it's so liberating.. you know what i mean? it makes me wanna spread my caucasian wings and soar high up into the heavens of like, omg, being anti-PC. fuck PC, okay? fuck the PC movement.

this is what freedom is about, my friend. it's what we fight for, it's why people have to die in iraq, it's why america is the best country in the world. THERE I SAID IT.

[Gold Trumpet]

The honesty of George Mencia with racial and political stereotypes is the only ingrediant he has that makes him funny for me.

oh yeah, carlos mencia is hilarious with his honesty.

Damn, I didnt even get the name right. I should have just said Mind of Mencia.

Thanks for the post Hedwig! Enjoy the backlash!

[polkablues]

1.) I absolutely do believe he deserves forgiveness. I've always liked Mel Gibson. Even in his recent political era he manages to be a conservative version of George Clooney. Both are semi arrogant about their political thoughts but both manage to come off as decent guys. Gibson fucked up in that arrest big time but I still like him and am able to give him the benefit of the doubt he just made a mistake. I don't think he's a racist. 

Do you believe that alcohol causes anti-Semitic statements?  If not, would you like to reevaluate your previous answer?

I believe alcohol causes inhibition. See, racism teeters in between hatred and politically incorrect humor. The honesty of George Mencia with racial and political stereotypes is the only ingrediant he has that makes him funny for me. Clerks 2 was also very funny with its racist jokes as is South Park is for its absurdist approach to racism. My friends and I also think racist humor can be very funny. I know one friend specifically who takes racial jokes and slandering to all time low when he gets drunk. We all get mad at him for it, but do I think he's racist? No. He's suppose to also hate gays but his best friend is gay. Do I know whether or not Mel Gibson is an anti Semite? No. I just don't believe he is and I don't take this incident as definitive proof that he is.

This is honestly mind-boggling to me.  So when Mel Gibson was pulled over by the cops and spouted such non-sequiturs as "Fucking Jews" and "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," he was merely offering up a little impromptu "edgy" humor?  Is that the inferrence I'm to make here?  You wrote that "alcohol causes inhibition", which I'm sure was a simple misstatement, you meant that alcohol lessens inhibitions, which is absolutely true.  So, assuming Gibson was not joking, which I'm happy to assume because it makes no sense to think that he was, doesn't it then follow that the statements made when under the influence of these lowered inhibitions could be construed as being more honest than those made when sober?  It is our inhibition that causes us to bury our unpopular opinions and beliefs from those who find them unpopular, so doesn't it make sense that the opinions and beliefs that spill out when our inhibitions are lowered might be a more accurate reflection of who we really are and what we really think?

Now I, like you, don't take this one incidenct as "proof" of Gibson's anti-Semitism.  At the same time, when thrown in with other examples from Gibson's life and work, there is what the police colloquially refer to as an "orgy of evidence".  I have no doubt that Mel's a perfectly nice man who would be fun to have a beer with (maybe just a Coke instead...), but to deny that he has serious, dangerous, deep-seated biases that should certainly preclude him from exec-producing Holocaust documentaries is to overlook a massive, Caligula-esque orgy of evidence.

[Pubrick]

First off, I'm going not going to give an example. I have little interest in calling anyone out at this time.

Second, you misalign my statement. I didn't say newbies were being attacked. All my analogy pointed to is that I think some members are carrying themselves with an arrogance that has no justifcation and I think it is sometimes because of the post counts. Do I think post counts matter? Absolutely not. Do I think you think they matter? No. Do I think others think they matter? Sometimes, yes.

ok.

I don't see much discussion going on anywhere for movies. I see a lot of people giving gut reactions to what they feel about a given movie. Usually that involves nothing more than a muddled paraphrase. Threads for movies start to turn into a consensus of whether everyone agrees to like or hate a movie. Sometimes when an unkown comes out and disagrees with the consensus someone will say something back that doesn't attack him but does aim to at least devalue his opinion. That is what I don't like.

i agree with that except the last part. i can't think of any examples to back up what you're saying about newbs and their opinions on films being discounted any more than the other worthless ones. but it's true barely anyone says anything interesting about movies. it's always like they're reviewing a refreshment..


"sweeeet"
pleasing taste, some monsterism.

[Gold Trumpet]

1.) I absolutely do believe he deserves forgiveness. I've always liked Mel Gibson. Even in his recent political era he manages to be a conservative version of George Clooney. Both are semi arrogant about their political thoughts but both manage to come off as decent guys. Gibson fucked up in that arrest big time but I still like him and am able to give him the benefit of the doubt he just made a mistake. I don't think he's a racist. 

Do you believe that alcohol causes anti-Semitic statements?  If not, would you like to reevaluate your previous answer?

I believe alcohol causes inhibition. See, racism teeters in between hatred and politically incorrect humor. The honesty of George Mencia with racial and political stereotypes is the only ingrediant he has that makes him funny for me. Clerks 2 was also very funny with its racist jokes as is South Park is for its absurdist approach to racism. My friends and I also think racist humor can be very funny. I know one friend specifically who takes racial jokes and slandering to all time low when he gets drunk. We all get mad at him for it, but do I think he's racist? No. He's suppose to also hate gays but his best friend is gay. Do I know whether or not Mel Gibson is an anti Semite? No. I just don't believe he is and I don't take this incident as definitive proof that he is.

This is honestly mind-boggling to me.  So when Mel Gibson was pulled over by the cops and spouted such non-sequiturs as "Fucking Jews" and "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," he was merely offering up a little impromptu "edgy" humor?  Is that the inferrence I'm to make here?  You wrote that "alcohol causes inhibition", which I'm sure was a simple misstatement, you meant that alcohol lessens inhibitions, which is absolutely true.  So, assuming Gibson was not joking, which I'm happy to assume because it makes no sense to think that he was, doesn't it then follow that the statements made when under the influence of these lowered inhibitions could be construed as being more honest than those made when sober?  It is our inhibition that causes us to bury our unpopular opinions and beliefs from those who find them unpopular, so doesn't it make sense that the opinions and beliefs that spill out when our inhibitions are lowered might be a more accurate reflection of who we really are and what we really think?

Now I, like you, don't take this one incidenct as "proof" of Gibson's anti-Semitism.  At the same time, when thrown in with other examples from Gibson's life and work, there is what the police colloquially refer to as an "orgy of evidence".  I have no doubt that Mel's a perfectly nice man who would be fun to have a beer with (maybe just a Coke instead...), but to deny that he has serious, dangerous, deep-seated biases that should certainly preclude him from exec-producing Holocaust documentaries is to overlook a massive, Caligula-esque orgy of evidence.

Polka, good post. Any further defense on my part would be just rationalization for a situation I really don't know very well. I'll leave this at that. Your post was convincing.

[Chest Rockwell]

I don't personally think anything someone says while intoxicated or drowsy is any indication of their deeper feelings. While about to doze off I've apparently mumbled stuff about wanting to take over the world, and that could be perhaps a subconscious feeling (who am I to know?), but consciously I don't think that way so it shouldn't matter. I think it's more or less the same way with intoxication, from my experience. It's hard to judge though, because they could be unconscious attitudes I have, but if I'm aware that those aren't my conscious feelings, then why does it matter? Humans are also instinctually violent and sexual, but our conscious, social lives do not necessarily reflect that.

I think Mel's problem isn't racism but alcoholism.

[RegularKarate]

Wow...

I guess I'm really surprised you like Carlos Mencia...  I mean you've given hints here and there about your sense of humor, but saying you like Carlos Mencia is pretty much admitting you like hack racist humor.

Carlos Mencia isn't his real name... he's not even really Mexican.. he pretends to be so he can say "Beaners" all the time and because he decided he wanted to connect with a mexican audience.... he's not even remotely funny... his act consists entirely of saying something racist so he can pretend he's "edgy" then mugging for the camera/crowd as if to say "I can't believe I just said that!"... there's no honesty in it because it's all poorly executed formula.  The fact that he's allowed to be on television saying the things that he does is amazing to me... he really is an incredible shit.

I talk shit about hack comics all the time... Dane Cook is a piece of crap because he's the Dave Mathews Band of comedy and steals jokes, George Lopez is fucking boring as hell, etc... but people like Mencia and Larry the Cable Guy represent all that is wrong in entertainment.

I'm just really surprised when someone who's not literally retarded likes Mencia.

[Ravi]

I watched 5 minutes of Mencia's special on Comedy Central and was appalled at the audience lapping it up and applauding.  He's the Crash of stand-up comedy.

[Chest Rockwell]

Now I don't like Mencia and I don't like racially-themed comedy that much either. But this is his biography according to IMDb http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0578788/bio

Birth name
    Ned Arnel Mencia
Nickname
    The Punisher
Height
    5' 7½" (1.71 m)
Mini biography

    Carlos Mencia was born on October 22nd 1967 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. His mother, Magdelena Mencia, from Mexico & his father, Roberto Holness, from Honduras came to America when Carlos was about 3-7 months old and decided to give Carlos to his aunt and uncle Consuelo and Pablo Mencia who lived next door to raise as their own because they weren't able to have children of their own plus his birth-parents small house was so packed already because his mother had so many children... They renamed him Carlos. Carlos grew up most of his life in the Maravilla Projects of East L.A.. Because of his exceptional school grades he had the chance to be skipped up to 10th Grade after the 6th Grade, but for fear of the older kids turning him on to the gang culture and thug life that dominated East Los Angeles he was sent to live in Seiko, Honduras between the ages 12 & 15. Carlos says he was a good kid, and managed to stay out of any serious trouble with the help of his family. Being the 17th of 18 children, he always found family to be of the "utmost importance". After returning back to East L.A. he graduated high school and attended Cal State L.A. where he majored in electronic engineering.

Then the rest of it just boils down to his career. Seems a little more authentic than you say. I must reiterate that I'm not a fan at all.

[RegularKarate]

Ned Arnel Mencia  
  Carlos Mencia was born on October 22nd 1967 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. His mother, Magdelena Mencia, from Mexico & his father, Roberto Holness, from Honduras came to America

Not Mexican... name is Ned Holness.. the IMDB profile is approved by him

[Chest Rockwell]

Oh, you're probably right. Hadn't considered that the person approves the biography, which is plausible.

[Gold Trumpet]

Wow...

I guess I'm really surprised you like Carlos Mencia...  I mean you've given hints here and there about your sense of humor, but saying you like Carlos Mencia is pretty much admitting you like hack racist humor.

"The honesty of George Mencia with racial and political stereotypes is the only ingrediant he has that makes him funny for me."

I really don't like him that much. His honesty reminds me of backyard conservations I have with friends or people at work. Honesty that cuts past bullshit gets to me. The bad thing is most comedians are like that.

If you truly, truly truly want to know who my favorite comedian is, its Dennis Miller. I'm sure thats also dissapointing for you but it at least makes more sense.

[JG]

If you truly, truly truly want to know who my favorite comedian is, its Dennis Miller.

somebody's gotta keep the ratio alive. 

[Ravi]

What do you think of this?