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MockBot · #1

Automatically generated comment thread for Editorials - Turn Your Brain Off.

g_tonttu · #2

..Can't turn brain on.

Great article Boogie..sadly so true.

Doctor_Who · #3

In general I hate this sort of entertainment. I'd honestly rather watch no movie than a stupid one. However, I must admit that I have a soft spot for bad 80s horror movies, and the splendor of Jason Voorhees and friends can best be enjoyed with you frontal lobes deactivated.

There's a big difference between "So dumb it's funny" and "So dumb it makes me dumb too."

OxBlood · #4

Good to see that there are still people left with brains that are "on". I hate all this 5th rate pseudo-entertainment. Not only is it bad, it´s also boring as hell.

Icculus · #5

I don't want to rehash and old gripe here, but am I the only person who liked the new Indiana Jones. Yes, he did survive a nuclear blast in a fridge, but this is the same man who jumped out of an airplane in an inflatable raft and slid down a mountain and survived unscathed. I don't remember anyone saying when I was a kid, "oh that was so dumb that guy pulled a beating heart out of his chest". NO! everyone said holy shit did you see that, thats fucking scary. I'm not saying turn your brain off, I'm just saying don't think so hard about.

As far as show like The Hills, OC, Real World (except the Puck season), 90210, etc. are just crimes against humanity.

Julio · #6

I was amazed how many of my peers during my high school years used to be so excited about shows like Friends and you average teenage show. They pretended to live their lives with the same drama as all that shit and it was really pathetic to watch such a moronic attitude. And to think all of those were the supposed "elite" of the school. Unfortunately, popular girls and jocks are expected to behave that way.

Kitsunexus · #7

I quit watching TV 11 years ago and have never looked back.

Relaxing Dragon · #8

Pretty much in agreement here. I can't help but think that whenever some big action movie comes out and one needs to 'turn your brain off' to enjoy it (looking at you, Michael Bay), it's just a lame excuse because they were too lazy or incompetent to make a movie that's enjoyable and (at least somewhat) smart at the same time.

Movies so dumb that they're unintentionally hilarious, though, I'm all for. Just so much pleasure to be gotten out of movies like Twilight (usually they're funnier than all those sitcoms you need to shut your brain off for in the first place).

Tetsu Deinonychus · #9

AMEN!

I'm sick of being told to "turn my brain off" to enjoy some boring Hollywood trash. Since when is watching intelligent entertainment "work" anyway? You oughta bitch-slap that brother of yours, Boogie.

Though, there is nothing wrong with a "so bad it's funny" movie. And, I might see "Mall Cop" to see if it's at least funny.

To Icculus:
I liked Indy 4, too. It wasn't any more ridiculous than any other Indy movie.

greenimp · #10

...but what if i find almost EVERYTHING unintentionally hillarious? what then i ask you?

...everything except the cat that was miaowing outside my window all night that is...

...DAMN YOU I HAVE NO FOOD FOR YOU!

Julio · #11

greenimp: You might need to put some poisoned food and wait for the cat to fall into its misery. I'm all for cats, but I just can't tolerate when they spend all night being lousy.

stevetothepast · #12

thank you, thank you, thank you. I hate Dane Cook especially.

HeroliciousDeBlanc · #13

DANE COOK SUCKS

Tetsu Deinonychus · #14

Indeed he does!

Copper · #15

In a world where the best selling teen series is about "pretty little rich girls with no consequences" (Gossip Girl, It Girl, Clique) and we have to endure crap like the OC and The Hills on TV it really makes you think how much *dumber* the world is getting. Seriously. Or the fact that the sheep have to rush out and buy the newest Oprah book for the soul reason being "It was on Oprah!" You can't tell me what it's about, you can't tell me the title, but you can tell me "It was on Oprah yesterday!" Yeah, that tells me how much you got out of that program. *shakes head* I like stupid humor, but only to an extent. Meet the Spartans? Funny! Yes, it had stupid humor in it, but they knew when to end the joke so you didn't have to "work" on laughing at it after 10 minutes. Things that are just one long "dick and fart joke" after another, not so much, and I can handle that kind of humor. To an extent. If it gets to the point where I'm laughing *at* the movie instead of laughing *because* of the movie, there's something wrong. I read "Vampire Smut" as my boss had dubbed it, but it's not "Swoon swoon woe is me, take me to bed tall dark fanged stranger." It's got humor, action, and some fan your face moments. I'm not 'switching off' to read it because the characters are well developed enough to make me *care* about them. They're not cookie cutter stereotypes of the ideal that we're supposed to portray. I'd rather give one of *those* to someone looking for a good read for their daughter than a copy of Gossip Girl.

I think part of the problem is, we settle, and that lowers the standards. They keep making the shows like that because people settle for them. They let their brains be turned off when they shouldn't even be watching it in the first place. In theory, the only way to stop the crap is to stand against the crap, but like I said, it's just a theory.

And...going to stop babbling now. I'll end with two thoughts:
1. I absolutely positively *refuse* to watch the new Transformers movie. My reason: It's not historically accuate, heh.
2. In the immortal words of Bowling for Soup: When did reality become T.V.? What ever happened to sitcoms, game shows, (on the radio) Springsteen, Madonna, way before Nirvana, there was U2 and Blondie and music still on MTV!

executioneer · #16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copper

Meet the Spartans? Funny!

you are going to have a lot of trouble getting people to relate to what you are saying if you say shit like this

MrWarranty · #17

Quote:

The problem was in the details of the film. Details such as the script. Also, Shia Lebeouf was present.

Hahah... great article.

HowardC · #18

I like these types of films simply because they are a quick and easy way to determine the intelligence level of the people around you. The Kevin James movie, for example. For someone ot be looking forward to it a few things must be assumed. Firstly said people must have found the King of Queens sitcom funny. I don't really have a response to that it is someone along the lines of finding George W. Bush a good president, but there you go. Also said person must have found the previews funny. This also astonds me as I can see points in the preview in which a joke was supposed to be, but was instead replaced by a fat man that can't control a seg-way.

One thing I disagree on though is the blatent hate over the transformers movie and the new indy movie. While I'll agree that they aren't up to par with previous attempts, you need to understand that the source material isn't THAT great to begin with. Go back and watch the original transformers cartoon... go ahead, I'll wait. Now go back and watch the Indiana jones movies... not the good ones, the bad ones. (I'll leave it up to you and decide which is which.) The new ones aren't that far off from the source material.

See the thing is your mind is playing tricks with you. Over the years you have evolved and demand a more sophistiacted film than when you were younger, your belived franchises, however haven't. When they do these "re-boots" they have to dumb down the level of comprehension back to the original source material, in other words you have to be able to understand what is going on even if you've never heard of a transformer, or never seen indy crack a whip.

I honestly think remakes are directly responsible for all of this "stupid cinema". Personally, I think it is the viewers responsibility to do their research before watching a film. Never seen Star Trek? Well maybe a star trek film isn't for you as you'd have to have been in a cave never to have seen the second longest running sci-fi franchise of all time. Producers and directors who wish to get people, that after 30+ years STILL haven't experienced star trek to watch a new film by "rebooting" the franchise is equally foolish.

Reboots happen because talented, but often short-sighted directors write themselves into corners. Maybe, just maybe when tim burton decided to kill-off the most famous villian in batman's history in his first film somebody should have taken him to the side and told him that in comic books the villians NEVER die unless they are supernatural and there is a way to resurrect them. If they had then we wouldn't have to suffer through this craptacular new film franchise in which batman drives a tank, has a guy that sounds like he should work for mary poppins as a butler, and sounds like he ate gravel and steroids for breakfast just because he dons a rubber suit!

So I think the dumbing down of media has a lot more to do with all the ideas already been taken than society being stupider. Perhaps peope are so starved for new media that they are willing to watch a sub-par form of entertainment so long as it is something new.

Dungeonbrownies · #19

Now im just curious.

What university did you attend?

EchoCharlie · #20

I think HowardC should explain further...

EchoCharlie · #21

Oh yeah and - Good article Boogie. Right on the money.

Colewolf · #22

Personally I have to say that movies Like the latest Indiana Jones are just more proof that the gene pool needs chlorine.

0dd1 · #23

Refusal to turn off one's mind is how the practice of sarcasm was invented.
I love to make sarcastic remarks while watching horrible things, even if I can only do it in my head ^_^

Beardy Goodness · #24

Ach du lieber... when I actually hear some prick (or partial prick) say they like Dane Cook, I become a little less faithful in the future of humanity.