Totally random thread

[chiknbut]

That was also about 50 years ago. The world is a little different today.

You are correct. And yes, people lose their freaking minds when Scarlett Johansson gets cast as a trans man.

But I don't think that the reverse is what's going on with Hamilton. Hamilton is explicitly intended to challenge historical preconceptions and to make the case that, from the start, America has been a place where anyone, even a West Indian orphan, can become an aide to the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, Publius, and the first Secretary of the Treasury. The ahistorical racial casting is an homage to the American ideal. It's a good thing.

Sheesh. You're no fun anymore.

[zsn]

sorry to get the thread back on topic, buuut....

so I've been binging Breaking Bad again.

as brilliant as it was, does anybody else feel like the whole nazis angle was sort of hurried or something?

everything else about the whole series is so meticulous. But with Uncle Jack and co, we never really get any backstory or character development. They're so evil, and well connected among prison gangs, but we never know why. They're supposed to be some kind of criminal geniuses, even though they just seem like a bunch of drunk white trash. They apparently thrive off some criminal empire, like so many of the other brilliant antiheros. But in contrast to the other smooth criminals who use professional fronts to hide in plain sight, we're supposed to believe these guys somehow go undetected just running around with swastika tattoos and machine guns. Nephew Todd even has a legit day job in pest control. It was almost like the writers just said "how do we end this? Well we need some antagonist...howsabout nazis??"

There are a lot of "....we're supposed to believe......." moments, beginning with the mercury fulminate incident!! Anyway I'm in general agreement with your point and I don't think that the nazi angle was necessary, and the plot would work just fine if Uncle Jack and his henchmen were just run-o'-the-mill bad guys. BTW, I still cannot drive by a house tented for termite treatment without a chuckle! But I think Uncle Jack's guys were introduced because Walter needed somebody on the "inside" to off Gus' guys and the nazi angle could give cover as it could be passed off as racially motivated rather than connected with meth trade. At least that's the way I saw it........

El Camino does show some back story and ties up other loose ends. Don't know why the next episodes of Better Call Saul are taking so long......

[Deleted User 104]

Actors should only be cast in race roles if it obviously has a historical purpose. Otherwise, people only care if the actor is good and if they fit the role. It's like if you have a life threatening surgery, you don't care about the race of the surgeons.

[pdub]

Movies are more an art than a science so actors can be cast in any role the people making the movie decide.
Don't watch it if you don't like it.

[Deleted User 104]

Yes, but no one cares about how diverse a movie is. People care if it's good.

[pdub]

Some people care.

[Deleted User 104]

Some people care.

Sure, the actor's mom and family, and a few friends. Splitting hairs here.

[pdub]

No, we are not splitting hairs here.
Some people care whether movies are diverse.
You aren't one of them - or rather, you do care enough to complain about diverse movies - but not enough to go watch it.

[Deleted User 104]

Okay, so Pwhit, the actor's mom, family and friends appreciate the race as much as the story.

[pdub]

Oh man.

[ousdahl]

sorry to get the thread back on topic, buuut....

so I've been binging Breaking Bad again.

as brilliant as it was, does anybody else feel like the whole nazis angle was sort of hurried or something?

everything else about the whole series is so meticulous. But with Uncle Jack and co, we never really get any backstory or character development. They're so evil, and well connected among prison gangs, but we never know why. They're supposed to be some kind of criminal geniuses, even though they just seem like a bunch of drunk white trash. They apparently thrive off some criminal empire, like so many of the other brilliant antiheros. But in contrast to the other smooth criminals who use professional fronts to hide in plain sight, we're supposed to believe these guys somehow go undetected just running around with swastika tattoos and machine guns. Nephew Todd even has a legit day job in pest control. It was almost like the writers just said "how do we end this? Well we need some antagonist...howsabout nazis??"

There are a lot of "....we're supposed to believe......." moments, beginning with the mercury fulminate incident!! Anyway I'm in general agreement with your point and I don't think that the nazi angle was necessary, and the plot would work just fine if Uncle Jack and his henchmen were just run-o'-the-mill bad guys. BTW, I still cannot drive by a house tented for termite treatment without a chuckle! But I think Uncle Jack's guys were introduced because Walter needed somebody on the "inside" to off Gus' guys and the nazi angle could give cover as it could be passed off as racially motivated rather than connected with meth trade. At least that's the way I saw it........

El Camino does show some back story and ties up other loose ends. Don't know why the next episodes of Better Call Saul are taking so long......

If the fact they were nazis was ever meant to be a substantive storyline, I never picked up on it.

After all the thought and detail and backstory they put into guys like Gus and the Salamancas, the nazis just felt kinda hollow. We never really know who they are or where they come from or what motivates them. ETA: or how they got their power. They come across as little more than a plot device.

“Oh shit, the series is about to end and we need antagonists! Wait, but we already killed off all the best bad guys? Damn well I guess we could just roll out like some totally random nazis or something, who cares if they’re not related to anything else in the first 4 and a half seasons...”

[ousdahl]

And yea el Camino is rad too.

About to watch it again consecutively after I finish Felina.

Is consecutively the right word there? I feel like there’s a better way to put that.

[ousdahl]

Just finished. It’s all so brilliant.

my favorite lines, in no particular order:

- Tucker! Tucker! Tucker!

- Skank! Skank! Skank!

- BITCH

- anything Badger and/or Skinny Pete says

- they drew first blood



...wait, sorry, thinking of Rambo again.

[ousdahl]

And now that I think about it I love how the drunk nazis just kinda show up. If you go on a desperate power trip in the meth underworld, then you might suddenly find yourself running with a new crowd.

Anyway let’s keep the thread on topic:

so who’s been to Alaska?

[zsn]

Skinny Pete is one of the greatest characters in any TV series even though most of his appearances are brief.

Alaska is on my list of places to go. I have been "collecting" UNESCO World Heritage sites and have been targeting travel towards maximizing visits to those sites (Italy has the most!) but I have lost sight of wild spaces!

[chiknbut]

Sorry to divert from the Alaska talk, but I didn't know where else to put this. Sound up!

[ousdahl]

does he ever land one?

[Deleted User 89]

got to journey north back in ‘99...cruised from Vancouver to Seward along the inner passage. then, rented a car and spent a couple days in Denali

absolutely amazing experience

[chiknbut]

does he ever land one?

Gravity can be such a bitch.

[HouseDivided]

Sorry to divert from the Alaska talk, but I didn't know where else to put this. Sound up!

It's like getting into a time machine and seeing what would happen if Chris Farley got his big break on Jackass.