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The new Iron Man 3 trailer is out, and it looks amazing. But looks can be deceiving, can’t they? What appears to be one hell of a movie might also be incredibly maddening, when one realizes that once again the bad guy — the “ultimate terrorist” to quote writer/director Shane Black — is really a creation of the U.S. government.
Iron Man started out so well, but ultimately the question becomes: “Where is he going?” In Hollywood, it’s only a matter of time before the star character goes to a place where America, at its root, is the creator of the evil it seeks to destroy.
Robert Downy Jr. sets the stage via Superhero Hype:
Q: We’ve seen Tony Stark go through a lot in “The Avengers.” How did the events of that movie wind up helping him change for this one?
Downey: Well, we had to do something, you know? I thought, “Isn’t it odd that he had this experience? And why was he suddenly just in New York for one summer?” We know why he was there. Stark Tower. But what he was doing there was really building an architect for a third act set piece. I wanted him back home and I thought, “What if that happened to any of us? Wouldn’t we be a little tripped out? You’d be watching your back.” Then I thought about this 21st century reality and kind of oddball zeitgeist of America and terrorism and all the weirdo stuff that this country seems to generate and co-create. So I thought he should be a little freaked out.
Hmm. The United States “generates” and “co-creates” terrorism? How so, Robert? If he’s saying evil must exist because good does, then I understand what he’s saying. If he’s saying that good men like Tony Stark create wonderful technology, but because of the warped timber of man others will use that technology for nefarious purposes, I get it. But if Robert is pandering to the “blame America first” crowd, then I just lost a lot of respect for him because it’s expected of Hollywood at this point.
As I wrote in October, Shane Black is a great writer and seems to understand that Tony Stark needs to be grounded this time around. But I also warned of exactly what appears to have happened:
[I]f the U.S. government is somehow culpable for the espionage that destroys Tony’s life, the movie will instantly lose credibility. If the message ends up being some sort of social commentary on how “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter,” I probably won’t be seeing Iron Man 4 in the theaters.
As it turns out, RDJ was much more Joesph Conrad than Loazi. Disappointing. Incredibly disappointing. Read Shane Black’s inspiration for The Mandarin:
We use as the example Colonel Kurtz from “Apocalypse Now,” this guy who may have been an American, may have been a British National, someone who is out there doing field work, supervising atrocities for the intelligence community who went nuts in the field and became this sort of devotee of war tactics, and now has surrounded himself with a group of people over which he presides, and the only thing that unifies them is this hatred of America. So he’s the ultimate terrorist, but he’s also savvy. He’s been in the intelligence world. He knows how to use the media. And taking it to a real world level like that was a lot fun for us.
Screw you, Shane Black, Kevin Feige, Robert Downey Jr. and Marvel. Screw everyone else associated with the product who thinks that the “ultimate terrorist” is, for the 10,000th time, a Western intelligence agent who was the product of his own country’s dark side. Besides, I just watched another iteration of this plot a couple months ago; it was called Skyfall.
Have we reached the point where a movie with a villain named The Mandarin can’t be a Communist revolutionary from China? Given that the recent Red Dawn remake changed the villains from Chinese Communists to North Koreans to placate the guys who are gobbling up the nation’s debt, I guess so.
At this point, I’ll probably see Iron Man 3 just to tease out whatever ‘Heart of Darkness’ themes Shane Black didn’t get a chance to discuss in promotional interviews, but no matter how stellar the movie is I won’t be able to shake the disgust over another “creative” team that turned to the “America is its own worst enemy” well when it was thirsty for ideas.
Behold: Liberalism on stark display.
Related: Lone Avenger: Robert Downey Jr. soars above his liberal critics
Related: Robert Downey Jr.’s politics: A lesson for liberal Hulks
Douglas Ernst Blog 
I’ll be voting with my feet by staying away from this leaker.
US imperialism is indeed an evil force in this world, and since it’s fueled by our tax dollars, we have a responsibility to grapple with how America supports and directs terrorists to achieve its goals. Syria right now is a good example.
You’re right. Only U.S. imperialism exists. No other country seeks to expand its sphere of influence, and when they do it’s because it’s a reaction to the big bad America.
And so, movie after movie after movie must “grapple” with this. Thank God Hollywood exists to flog us repeatedly for our “evil” ways. “Bad, America! Bad! Bad! Now you go in the corner and when we let you out you be nice to the completely-innocuous Communist China.”
how about a different term: corporate colonialism.
Another rabbit hole, but I’ll stick my head in just a bit out of sheer morbid curiosity. What is the Lizard19 definition of corporate colonialism?
corporate colonialism is when those liberal space companies (SpaceX) that made billions stealing from people (Paypal) are building colonies on the moon and Mars.
I’ll still see the movie, but admittedly I am unnerved by this sudden blame-the-U.S. message that seems to have crept into it. I’m sick of that crap permeating pop culture.
And American imperialism is a myth, espoused by those with anti-American views. It’s not like we’re conquering other nations and forcing them to think like us. And what’s wrong with spreading our sphere of influence? I don’t see anything wrong with that.
America doesn’t project 1/8 of its military might. People who complain of American imperialism don’t know what real imperialism looks like. American “imperialism” is mostly cultural. It’s the kind of “imperialism” that propels ‘The Avengers’ to over $1.5 billion in ticket sales worldwide. It’s the kind of imperialism that makes millions of immigrants flock here every year. It’s the kind of imperialism that makes young Egyptians do “The Harlem Shake” in front of the Muslim Brotherhood H.Q. as a form of protest. (How weird is that?)
I would argue that we so want to avoid being seen as imperialist that we have changed our rules of engagement in places like Afghanistan in ways that almost ensured … the result we have now. Read ‘No Easy Day’ or ‘American Sniper’ to see how the Taliban took advantage of the ROE. Sad stuff…
What if Robert is talking about the Bin Laden myth, though. Even I believed the “U.S. created Bin Laden” myth for some time, until I did some research.
I am going to look at the rabbit hole before me and I am going to not jump in.
What? I just meant, what if Robert isn’t doing the “blame America first” thing. Maybe he just bought into that whole C.I.A created Bin Laden thing, and that is where he got this: “Then I thought about this 21st century reality and kind of oddball zeitgeist of America and terrorism and all the weirdo stuff that this country seems to generate and co-create”
I guess I should say “funded” him not “created” him. My other posts look like they were made by a wacky conspiracy guy. lol
Yes. I didn’t want to get into “Truther” stuff here.
A case could be made that we funded Bin Laden because, yes, we essentially did. Although U.S. funding we provided the mujahideen in the 80’s was a drop in the bucket compared to what Pakistan’s ISI provided. ISI is what kept them running.
Then you have to get into the historical context of the time. Was defeating The Soviet Union an important enough goal to meddle in Afghanistan while it attempted to expand its own sphere of influence? Communism was on the march around the globe until Reagan pushed back.
Those are complex questions. Regardless, I still think the whole “America creates its own enemies” idea doesn’t have to be the go-to idea when creative types are in a jam.
Oh. The “truther” stuff. I’m sorry I didn’t mean that kind of stuff. Oh, man. Sorry about that.
I’m not explaining myself very well. lol. I just meant the news reports from a few years ago that tried to say that the CIA funded bin Laden or trained bin Laden. All that stupid stuff. I don’t believe that or anything. I’m sorry that my posts sounds so goofy.
No problem.
And thanks for reading and taking the time to reply.
corporate colonialism could be defined as using the power of the US state to access new markets and to intimidate competitors, like China and Russia. and it’s important to note that the power of the state is not just military—it’s soft power, like NGO’s, and financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF.
there’s another word that more accurately describes what America has become: Fascism.
Well, my work is done here. Thanks for the clarification.
So it’s somehow “bad” that corporations open up stores in foreign countries? I fail to see how that’s a bad thing, wanting to expand your market.
yes Carl, you do fail to see. if people could connect wars for resources abroad with wars against labor and dissent here at home, then there would be hope. but there’s not much to hope for. NAFTA pales before the TransPacificPartnership. targeted assassinations and signatures strikes pale before torture. the movement that transcends political parties is the movement toward fascism. Eric Holder recently declared big banks too big to prosecute. central banks are playing global shell games. google LIBOR scandal, Carl. or investigate why the CIA’s first coup overthrew Mossadegh in Iran in 1952 (hint: oil).
now, if you excuse me, I need to go write a tirade against the Obama administration and spineless Democrats.
I’m glad that you acknowledge that we don’t live in heaven. People have been fighting for scarce resources with alternative uses since the dawn of time. I’m not sure how this is a uniquely American problem, or how it warrants an undue amount of Hollywood attention in the form of self-loathing art house or popcorn films.
Carl, do you want to know what the irony is in regards to so-called wars for oil? The United States has an over-abundance of resources. All the energy we could ever want exists within our borders and off our coastal waters, but liberal environmentalists do everything within their power to prevent businesses from tapping those resources. We have useful idiots like Matt Damon; he makes an anti-fracking movie funded by the UAE, for goodness sake. And then when someone slaps him in the face with reality, he looks like a deer in headlights.
domestic supply has greatly increased under Obama. and if the price is right, domestic supply will be exported. there is no corporate loyalty regarding domestic supply vs. foreign.
Oil has increased in spite of Obama, not because of him. He had no control over the boom in hydraulic fracturing, and liberals have tried everything in their power to slow it down. And why aren’t we building a slew of new nuclear plants? There’s really no reason not to.
it’s funny watching you try to squeeze Obama into your partisan narrative. sure, in spite of Obama.
part of the problem with systemic corruption, Doug, is the regulatory role of government is rendered toothless, and when it comes to nuclear power, the consequences are dire. Fukushima is a good example, and if you think Japan’s conflicted government role in selling/regulating nuclear power is any different than the US, think again.
You really think this administration hasn’t dragged its feet on energy? Okay.
There are things that are bigger than the president (contrary to what he believes). The promise of hydraulic fracturing is one of them.
And you’re right: any time I criticize Obama it means that my strings are being pulled by my GOP puppet masters.
This article made me scratch my head, Doug. You loved you some Dark Knight. The antagonists Bane (and the ghost of Ra’s Al Ghul), aren’t too far in description (and mission) from how Black describes the Mandarin. You like Greengrass’s Flight 93 but disliked Green Zone. The same Hollywood greenlit Zero Dark Thirty and Act of Valor.
I don’t see anything wrong with Black or RDJ exploring America’s dark side from time to time. We are the only superpower left and our might has been occasionally misused as of late. There’s plenty of malfeasance going on with our foreign policy. I love my country, but certainly do not have blinders on. Does being critical of our country instantly label a person a liberal? And I don’t see how one comment makes RDJ a liberal.
Keep in mind that we, as a country, are the last superpower standing. China and India are on the ascendancy, but we can’t pretend they are a USSR-level threat. Who is the great villain Rambo must fight now? Burma? Hollywood doesn’t have much to work with and with drone strikes, the erosion of our Constitutional rights, and some of the regime creation/removal we’ve done in recent decades, why not use the US’s dark side as a motivation for the antagonists. Not every bad-cop movie means police are all bad apples. The antagonist in Backdraft was a fire marshall. What was it going to be, fire?
Besides, remember the original movie when he was blasting that evil-doer group with flame and later repulsors in the desert? That didn’t bother you that Iron Man was basically the root of that problem (selling arms). I guess Black’s upgrading their leadership to include the Manarin.
Also, haven’t you kept up with the fact that a Chinese company co-financed this movie? I don’t think anyone expects a Chinese stereotype Mandarin from the original Iron Man comics. I can understand the Chinese being a bit sensitive about any portrayal of the Mandarin being anywhere near and Asian “revolutionary” or “terrorist.” Honestly, what choice does Black have?
Dude, wait and see. The “screw you RDJ stuff” was kinda silly this early on. And Skyfall? I thought it sucked, but not for the villain. Bond has run the gamut of villains, so what if Bardem played an ex-00 with a hacker streak. He was the best part of it.
P.S. The “gobbling up our national debt” statement is not exactly accurate. The Chinese collectively own about 10% of our national debt. Japan owns almost as much as China. The vast majority of the debt is IOU’s to… ourselves.
Ah yes, the old Lightbringer technique: instead of asking me to clarify statements that leave wiggle room for interpretation, you make large leaps in logic and respond to whatever exaggerated conclusion remains.
I’ll expand on this when I get home.
I admire your patience and persistence, Lightbringer.
Thanks! Doug’s not a bad guy at all. Pretty reasonable actually. But reasonable would be boring and tank his page views, so I think he really has no choice but to crank out these red meat articles from time to time. You can see how many replies the Schwarzenegger article got. Compare to this one. I don’t blame him one bit. Hell, I even click on the ads to help a brother out.
Actually, the WordAds say that my page isn’t “optimized’ for ads (which means they’re not paying me) … while at the same time they’re running ads on my frickin’ blog. It’s rather annoying, but then again I’ve been lazy and haven’t contacted them.
Here’s a weird thought: I write on whatever the hell I want to write on. Sometimes it’s Arnold, and sometimes it’s Iron Man. Given that I’ve collected comics since I was a kid (my brother sat me on his lap and read Iron Man and Spider-Man to me before I could walk), it seems logical I would get a little fired up about the way the character is treated.
I’m also not sure what your obsession is with how many people comment on this blog. You’ve brought it up directly and indirectly multiple times.
I work for a website that gets Drudge hits almost every day. And sometimes thousands of people go to a story, read it, stay there for a minute or so (you can see all these stats) and then leave without saying a word. Sometimes lots of people comment, but they’re psycho-nuts (even if I vote the same way). Sometimes, the thread is filled with intelligent sane people.
I highly suggest starting a blog. The back-end stuff is fascinating. I suspect it will also alter how you comment on other blogs.
I’m not obsessed. Comments create more community. Community drives repeat page views. That drives ad revenue. Which you might want to consider. The blog is work. Get paid.
Why don’t you ask your readers what they think? Might get some new voices and make it more of a two-way thing. Exciting stuff.
1. When did I ever say Robert was liberal? In fact, I went out of my way to qualify my remarks.
And I’m 99% sure you read my previous RDJ posts, where I went out of my way (particularly in the comments section) to say his political identity is probably all over the map.
Even my “screw” you is predicated on him actually thinking those things. Since Shane Black was the one who said it, I can’t be sure what RDJ thinks. But the two worked VERY closely, so in this instance I’d say the vent was probably properly directed.
2. How do you know what bothered me and what didn’t in the first Iron Man. Did you ask? No. You didn’t.
3. What choice does Shane Black have? He’s the writer and director. He has infinite choices available to him. And if you’re saying that creative license is beholden to his Chinese masters, that would be sad.
4. Yes, I would say China is gobbling up debt.
5. You have ten political thrillers coming out, and someone takes you to Las Vegas and says, “Lightbringer, put your money down on one or the other: Either the bad guy will somehow be created by the U.S. government or he’ll be just some evil dude from a foreign country. Pick one.” How will you place your bets? I don’t think Act of Valor (which was actually not really made within the typical Hollywood system) is what you want to use to influence your decision. And I don’t think United 93, which was just a strict retelling of what happened on the flight, is either.
China has enough of our debt to make things very painful for us if it wanted. It might also be painful for them … but then again they don’t really care about their people, so … I don’t think we should talk about that in terms of being a deterrent. Given the leverage that they do have over us, I will stick with “gobble.” You’ve read enough of my posts to know that I consider entitlement spending our biggest problem.
6. “Dude, wait and see,” (Lightbringer).
What is this:
Is that me acknowledging that the movie might very well be “stellar”? Why yes, it is. In fact, that comment alone signifies that I might very well enjoy the movie, even though I have to read stupid comments by Shane Black. I’ll just like it less than I would have otherwise.
So when Lizard says he admires your patience, I have to scratch my head. If you’re feeling consternation, sometimes it’s because you fill in any blanks in understanding with your preconceived notions about what I think and feel — often despite evidence to the contrary that is staring you in the face.
Ah yes, the old Doug technique: instead of asking blog subjects (in this case RDJ and Shane Black) to clarify statements that leave wiggle room for interpretation, Doug make large leaps in logic and creates a post with whatever exaggerated conclusion remains.
See, it doesn’t work that way considering a.) I’m usually pretty good about qualifying my remarks, b.) I disagree with your premise (e.g., When Shane Black says he drew inspiration from “Apocalypse Now” and that the “ultimate terrorist” is an American there isn’t a lot of wiggle room), and c.) I’m not in an ongoing discussion with RDJ and Shane Black. Obviously, I’d conduct the conversation a lot differently if I had immediate access to him via a blog chat.
Nice try, though.
Clearly you disagree.
here’s another example why your partisan view of Obama is just wrong:
Hollywood doesn’t have much to work with? Only because these days they’re too chickens**t to actually take on tyrannical regimes… they don’t want to “offend” people. Try Islamic terrorists, North Korea, China, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, the Occupy movement (they’re pretty much dead at this point, though), drug dealers, Black Panthers, the Lord’s Resistance Army, Hezbollah, Hamas, the neo-Nazis in Greece, etc. Back in the 1980s we actually had the guts to take on communist regimes in movies, comics, and other forms of media.
Islamic terrorists: too many to count
North Korean: Die Another Day
Chinese: Lethal Weapon 4
Iranian: Argo
Syrian: I’m drawing a blank
Venezuelan: The US never like Chavez, but his people did. Not a villain.
The Occupy movement? They are villains? What???
Drug dealers: too many to count
Black Panthers: who’d see that movie?
The Lord’s Resistance Army: Tears of the Sun is pretty close.
Hezbollah & Hamas: Syriana
Neo-Nazis in Greece: The Sum of All Fears (not Greek, but Neo-Nazis)
We had the “guts” in the 80’s to make the USSR the enemy because they weren’t watching our movies. If you were a movie studio boss, would you want to erase Chinese movie ticket sales by making the Mandarin some Chinese racial stereotype? No. Use your head.
You know it is possible to have The Mandarin be Chinese and not be a racial stereotype, right? I’m not sure why you keep framing it that way. Red herring…
But if you’re saying liberal studio heads like Harvey Weinstein are hypocritical bastards for painting conservatives as heartless greedy money-grubbers while they figure out a way to make extra bucks in China, go right ahead.
And… you swing a few straw men at me. Nobody’s talking about “librul studio heads”. Nobody mentioned the Weinsteins. Marvel made this. Nobody’s taking pot shots at conservatives in this movie. I’m surprised you didn’t somehow work Obama or Matt Damon in there.
Now to the rational part of your post. There is no red herring. Yes, I know that the Mandarin can be Chinese and not be a racial stereotype. However, you can understand how the Chinese financiers, who are probably not villains themselves, would be sensitive about having a Chinese villain and I’m sure you understand how money via Chinese movie ticket and DVD sales could play a part in the decision to use Indian/English actor to play a ethnically hodgepodge terrorist.
Given that there are many, many, many, many movies made each year, I would hope that Chinese money men would also be smart enough to see that given that character’s name and historical roots, it’s probably not too much to ask to refrain from making him an American. The Chinese people are big boys. I think they can take it.
Would the RNC or Heritage or your employer finance a film with a “conservative” villain? No.
Your “big boy” logic does not compute.
You don’t see how a movie studio … that churns out a wide variety of projects … is different from a public policy think tank? Sorry if that logic doesn’t compute for you. Now, if you’re saying the Commie Chinese have a thing against anyone being critical of them, sure. But then that goes back to my point, which is that we shouldn’t be censoring ourselves to placate a bunch of Commies thugs. And if we are, that says quite a bit about where we are as a culture.
Okay, let’s step back from the public policy think tank itself and look instead at some of its backers. Would the Koch brothers fund an anti-conservative movie? Would any “conservative” institution? No.
Commie Cinese? Commie thugs? The financiers are thugs? Not gonna bite on that bait.
Bait? You’re the one going to the Koch brothers. Don’t make me laugh.
I find it interesting that you seem to care more about the feelings and motivations of Chinese money-men than the American consumer.
Yes, I clearly feel more for Chinese financiers then Americans. To borrow from RDJ in Tropic Thunder, you went full retard on that one. Nice ad hominem, by the way.
Americans have no trouble with Wal-Marts full of Chinese goods, Chinese movies, and will very, very likely have zero problem with Iron Man 3. Despite your hollow protestations, the movie will gross hundreds of millions of dollars, Hollywood will go on, China will be on the ascendancy, and American morality will be a wasteland of hedonism until Christian conservatives “take back America” someday when all of us poor folk get weaned off the teat of free money and entitlements. Yup, that’s it.
How about we make this as simple as possible. Would a conservative American financier finance a foriegn movie where the main villain was an American?
Yes.
How sad that I’m apparently going “full retard” and still making you look so bad.
Making me look bad? How? By finally answering a question and not hiding behind “we’ll, I used weasel words like ‘may be’ and ‘could be’ so don’t jump to conclusions and pretend you know what I think.” If by being honest and succinct, by all means, make me look bad all day.
And yeah, we have plenty of resources here at home. Only problem is, we have idiots like Matt Damon and radical environmentalists who have a huge lobby and prevent us from using them. We wouldn’t have to drill offshore and would be energy independent if we didn’t have that lobby messing things up.
I’ll have to slightly disagree with you on one aspect there, buddy. Yes, there are environmentalist groups lobbying Congress, but there are also plenty of oil, gas and coal companies shelling out (no pun intended) big bucks.
I think the main problem is that conservatives lost the PR war (what else is new?) They ceded ground to the Captain Planet-ization on an entire generation, and when they refused to talk about these issues … then someone else filled the void.
You have guys like Damon essentially saying that if you disagree with him then you must like breathing dirty air and drinking polluted water and giving your kids weird diseases. And when conservatives don’t speak up … I can’t blame the public for siding with the other guy or gal … even if they’re crazy:
To which lobby are you referring? Please search for the term “superfund site” before discounting these dastardly lobbies. Also, for good measure, read the investigation report of the BP spill. I, for one, like my environment clean.
Matt Damon and the radical environmentalists? Seriously? Where do you get your news? Fox? Drudge? Rush?
Carl, I appreciate your comments, because they are great opportunities to address rampant misconceptions too many folks have about complicated issues.
there are a host of problems with the environmental movement, one of the main ones is the co-optation of groups like the Sierra Club by corporate interests in order to steer or control opposition. there is also the very successful divide/conquer technique, pitting labor against environmentalists. here in Montana, for example, our Democrat senator, Jon Tester, got reelected in this conservative state, and part of his appeal to moderates included hippie-bashing environmentalists. it worked.
what I’m trying to say, Carl, is radical environmentalists do not have a huge lobby. the most success they have is engaging in obstructionism with the courts—something obstructionist Republicans know all about, since that is all they can do right now.
meanwhile, another study just came out (if you’re a fan of science, which I’m assuming you’re probably not) which adds to the growing body of evidence that the warming of the past century is caused by humans, and going to get worse.
And you wonder why you’re considered a troll? You can’t resist. You always lace your comments with some sort of insult or dig. It’s sad.
Doug, do you always assume those who comment on your posts are incapable of fending for themselves? if Carl is feisty enough to lash out at celebrities, I’m sure he can handle a “sad” internet troll challenging his ignorant remarks.
No, you’re the one who goes around assuming things about people. I’m simply using my blog as I see fit. And in this case that means calling you out for being the mean-spirited angry person you are.
You know nothing about Carl. You don’t know where he’s from, his age, his educational background. Nothing. The decent thing to do is to show people a certain amount of respect until their interactions with you warrant a change in tact. But you aren’t decent. You’re mean, angry and bitter.
sure Doug, let’s get back to your mean-spirited, angry hissy fit over a stupid movie:
Really? You want to draw an equivalence between my post and your interactions with Carl?
Go for it. There’s nothing more I need to say.
When I worked at Heritage we had a bunch of people come in from China for a briefing. They kept asking me if the CIA ran Heritage. They were incapable of understanding how we were for smaller government, that we stood in opposition to unwarranted regulation, etc. This particular group was convinced that somehow, some way we were controlled by officials in DC or an intelligence agency.
I had a kid I was trying to get in for an internship from China. Without thinking, I told him to follow me on Twitter and send me a private message if he ever needed something, since I often checked that account when I wasn’t at work. He said he would … but that I was blocked in China.
Telling. Very telling. So you see, these are the people we’re dealing with. And I don’t much care for offending the sensibilities of those who would prop up such as system.
Those who would prop up such a system? The American consumer? And Twitter is blocked in China. Not just you.
You know what I meant by “prop up,” given that we’re talking about the realm of ideas. In this case, “prop up” would be defined as people who play apologist for Chinese Communist censorship-monkeys.
It was my understanding that certain parts of China do have access to Twitter. I know they have their own version, though (Weibo). I didn’t think it was just me. I also said “without thinking” because I used to tell all intern applicants they could contact me at any time via Twitter. If you were trying to make me look silly, it failed.
Hey, what do you know, this leads back to Iron Man: http://douglasernstblog.com/2010/07/11/chinese-internet-cops-iron-man-america-and-human-potential/
Whose is playing apologist for censorship monkeys? Who does that? Me? Or somebody not in this conversation?
“It failed.” LOL.
meanwhile, another study just came out (if you’re a fan of science, which I’m assuming you’re probably not) which adds to the growing body of evidence that the warming of the past century is caused by humans, and going to get worse.
So the f*** what? The very same scientists who scream about “doing something NOW!” also acknowledge that the quantity of CO2 on our atmosphere NOW means that there is precious little we can do to CHANGE our predicament for about … a millenium. So, why the hell are people’s panties in a bunch? Just accept that the climate is changing (as it has since the planet formed, for God’s sake) and deal with what we face. Don’t demand I radically change my lifestyle for something that may benefit in 3013. Or beyond.
Neo-Nazis in Greece: The Sum of All Fears (not Greek, but Neo-Nazis)
Uh, you do know that the villains in this film were changed from Islamic fundies (featured in the novel) to Neo-Nazis? Why was that?
From IMDB:
“Director Phil Alden Robinson changed the villains from Islamic extremists (in the novel) to Neo-Nazis. This was done because prior to the 11 September 2001 attacks, he did not believe Arab terrorists could plausibly accomplish all that was necessary for the plot to work on film. After 9/11, the production staff had to review how to present the movie to the public.”
The movie was released in 2002. 9/11 happened in 2001. Pre-production happened before 9/11. The explanation in light if the dates makes sense.
Besides, there’s never been a shortage of Islamic bad guys all over American cinema. Remember “The Crimson Jihad” from Ahnuld’s True Lies? That was 1994.
meanwhile, another study just came out (if you’re a fan of science, which I’m assuming you’re probably not) which adds to the growing body of evidence that the warming of the past century is caused by humans, and going to get worse.
So the frak what? The very same scientists who scream about “doing something NOW!” also acknowledge that the quantity of CO2 on our atmosphere NOW means that there is precious little we can do to CHANGE our predicament for about … a millenium. So, why the hell are people’s panties in a bunch? Just accept that the climate is changing (as it has since the planet formed, for God’s sake) and deal with what we face. Don’t demand I radically change my lifestyle for something that may benefit in 3013. Or beyond.
yes, we will adapt or die. the real reason to stock up on guns is the inability of the state to respond to what’s coming down the line. most people are you like you, Hube, myself included. we will refuse to change our lifestyles laden with unnecessary consumption until the planet rejects us as parasites threatening the host.
Yeah, there’s that. I see it as a distict possibility. I read that all it will take is a shift of 4 degrees and the whole thing changes. Add to that 7 billion mouths to feed.
Anyone’s best chance is to be sure to be a have when the house of cards tumbles down–whether it be economic meltdown, natural disaster, or climate change. The have-nots are doomed.
Greed is good, until the goal becomes “all” instead of “most.”
Besides, there’s never been a shortage of Islamic bad guys all over American cinema. Remember “The Crimson Jihad” from Ahnuld’s True Lies? That was 1994.
I suggest you read the linked article below.
From Slate (http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2002/05/the_sum_of_all_pc.html):
By the time The Sum of All Fears movie was being developed, CAIR launched a pre-emptive campaign to rid the adaptation of the novel’s Muslim terrorists (“Before we had typed a word on paper,” producer Mace Neufeld has said, “I was getting complaints.”)reportedly felt much the same way. Early script treatments cast Timothy McVeigh-style “superpatriots” as the heavies behind the bomb plot, not Muslims—a PC move par excellence. Later, director Phil Alden Robinson settled on neo-Nazis, a perennial favorite, at which point he wrote the following in a letter to CAIR: “I hope you will be reassured that I have no intention of promoting negative images of Muslims or Arabs, and I wish you the best in your continuing efforts to combat discrimination.” Ben Affleck, the new Jack Ryan, has applauded the decision, arguing that “the Arab terrorist thing has been done a million times in the movies.” (As opposed to the neo-Nazi thing?) And the terror attacks only heightened concerns over ethnic insensitivity. In late September, Paramount chairman Sherry Lansing expressed sympathy for “these Afghan or Arab children in high schools who are getting picked on,” suggesting that she’d steer clear of movies with Muslim villains.
I love your reaction to the Ben Affleck quote.
Wasn’t mine, Doug! It’s the article author’s!
Haha. I was skimming. That’s even better!
IMDB is clearly inaccurate. Regardless, your point is what? Hollywood doesn’t make enough movies with Arab/Muslim villains?
Aren’t we commenting on the same post? If I have to explain it … *yeesh*
Yes. Don’t bother counting Zero Dark Thirty or Argo. Nope. Don’t count.
Yeah, because, y’know, it’d be just a little silly changing real life villains from actual historical events.
Idiot.
yes, we will adapt or die. the real reason to stock up on guns is the inability of the state to respond to what’s coming down the line. most people are you like you, Hube, myself included. we will refuse to change our lifestyles laden with unnecessary consumption until the planet rejects us as parasites threatening the host.
Except that it’s highly unlikely it’ll come to that.
You guys totally missed the point (surprise, that). The very same scientists who alarm us about “impending global warming doom” ALSO note that the current CO2 concentration in the atmosphere will not change for a millenium. My “so why should I care?” attitude isn’t out of a callous “I hate planet Earth” viewpoint; to the contrary, it’s out of a realistic understanding that anything I do to “diminish” GHGs ain’t gonna matter one bit. Aside from 1,000 years being a helluva long time, it’s completely logical to presume humanity will move to cleaner and more reliable energy sources during this time. Fossil fuels are finite, after all; they certainly will be depleted long before 1,000 years is up. Hell, nuclear fusion is a definite possibility within a century. If this happens, power wants will cease for, like, ever.
And then we’ll have to hear about how evil “Big Fusion” is. There will probably be a comic book character created named Fusion that will represent the “greed” of Mitt Romney VIII, who runs Big Fusion Capital in the heart of Gotham.
LOL, probably. I can easily see Marvel and DC (assuming they’re still around that far into the future!) doing that.
And yeah, Hube, I think that we’ll eventually wean ourselves off fossil fuels and move on to something like nuclear fusion, which will fill our needs indefinitely. I personally think the whole global warming/climate change nonsense is just that, and a bunch of Chicken Little scaremongering created by people who want to tell us how to live, but continue their own extravagant lifestyles because they “know better.” There has always been climate change of a kind, and it’s natural. For example, the Last Ice Age happened, and that wasn’t caused by consumption nor it was caused by human industrialization, because none of that existed back then.
Lizard was right. Science isn’t your thing. There was an Ice Age, therefore man-made climate change is a hoax. Excellent logic. Nevermind the dozens of Nobel laureates in scientific fields who disagree. They just want to tell us how to live.
Ever hear of Climategate, Lightbringer? That proves that it man-made climate change is far from fact and that science is far from sound.
And I don’t give a damn if someone has a Nobe laureate or not. It doesn’t mean they’re smart, nor does it mean that they are correct about something. Al Gore isn’t a scientist, and yet people act as though he’s some kind of expert now that he and an organization that falsified data have won a Nobel Peace Prize.
Ah, yes. “Climategate.” Al Gore. Radical environmentalists. Same old, same old.
Would 20 Nobel Laureates change your mind?
http://m.guardiannews.com/environment/2009/may/29/prince-charles-nobel-laureates
Probably not. Why regard science when you have the six steps from the Denialism Manual.
STEP 1
Doubt the Science
STEP 2
Question scientists’ motives and interests
STEP 3
Magnify legitimate, normal disagreements among scientists and cite gadflies as authorities
STEP 4
Exaggerate potential harms (scare the hell out of people)
STEP 5
Appeal to personal freedom
STEP 6
Show that accepting the science would represent a repudiation of a key
religious or philosophical belief
-Geneticist Sean Carroll
Lizard was right. Science isn’t your thing. There was an Ice Age, therefore man-made climate change is a hoax. Excellent logic.
As opposed to the logic that we must act NOW even though the quantity of CO2 in the atmosphere will not diminish for a millennium.
Actually, no, that is stupid. Educate yourself. Look up “4 Degrees and Beyond Conference.”
I did Google that. But you explain exactly what is “stupid” about my last comment. And add in this:
Though the paper is the most complete reconstruction of global temperature, it is roughly consistent with previous work on a regional scale. It suggests that changes in the amount and distribution of incoming sunlight, caused by wobbles in the earth’s orbit, contributed to a sharp temperature rise in the early Holocene.
The climate then stabilized at relatively warm temperatures about 10,000 years ago, hitting a plateau that lasted for roughly 5,000 years, the paper shows. After that, shifts of incoming sunshine prompted a long, slow cooling trend.
The cooling was interrupted, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, by a fairly brief spike during the Middle Ages, known as the Medieval Warm Period. (It was then that the Vikings settled Greenland, dying out there when the climate cooled again.)
Scientists say that if natural factors were still governing the climate, the Northern Hemisphere would probably be destined to freeze over again in several thousand years. “We were on this downward slope, presumably going back toward another ice age,” Dr. Marcott said.
Instead, scientists believe the enormous increase in greenhouse gases caused by industrialization will almost certainly prevent that.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/science/earth/global-temperatures-highest-in-4000-years-study-says.html?_r=0
I am not a climate change denier. I am just skeptical of those (of any political stripe) who scream “emergency” in order to gain more control over my life. (Sorry if that includes Step 5 of Denialism Manual. Ironic that Step 2 and 4 are routinely utilized by climate alarmists, not to mention Step 1 is science.)
we should all be skeptical of how a crisis can be exploited. Naomi Klein’s Disaster Capitalism should be required reading. but just because someone wants to push for, let’s say, a carbon tax, doesn’t invalidate the crisis of climate change.
as for control over your life, the manipulation of our money supply renders the bulk of humanity vulnerable to being controlled by a corrupt global banking system, and after the LIBOR scandal, it should be blatantly obvious that the system is rigged.
Shane Black works for US intelligence Psyops. His job is to make viewers believe that what they see on the screen is fiction and can’t possibly happen in the real world, when it is actually the truth of what is really going on. Believe it or not, muslim extremists, at the highest levels, actually do the bidding of the US, israeli and NATO countries and work for US/Mossad intelligence. Shane Black uses this idea in Iron Man 3 in order to mess up with your mind and make you believe that this is fiction and can’t possibly happen in the “real word”. It s a form of mass mind control.
In 1996, he wrote the script of “The Long Kiss Goodnight” a movie with Geena Davis, who, in it, portrays a sleeper CIA assassin. Shane Black was told to include the following dialogue in the movie, which prefigures 9-11 and tells the truth about 9-11. Ie: the CIA and other foreign intelligence services are behind 9-11 and framed muslim extremists for it. This was in 1996, 5 years before it actually happened.
These are actual lines of dialogues written by Shane Black for “The Long Kiss Goodnight” in 1996:
“Mitch: You’re telling me that you’re gonna fake some terrorist thing, just to scare some money out of Congress?
Leland Perkins (CIA agent): Well, unfortunately, Mr. Hennessey, I have no idea how to fake killing 4,000 people – so we’re just gonna have to do it for real. Blame it on the Muslims, naturally. Then I get my funding. ”
Again the idea is to make people believe that the CIA being responsible for 9-11 is an impossibility which belongs to the realm of fiction and Hollywood movies. “They” do this on purpose to manipulate people into believing whatever they want you to believe.
Florence Shellen, first wife of Stephen Shellen (actor), was tasked with providing this piece of dialogue to Shane Black in 1996. Florence Shellen was a sleeper assassin with dissociative identity disorder, who had been programmed by the CIA and French intelligence. One of her task was to deliver these lines of dialogues to Shane Black. Someone in the CIA gave Shane Black the triggers/code words to Florence Shellen’s alters, so he could access her over the phone and get the lines of dialogues that he then included in the script.
sounds crazy and yet this is what is going on today in hollywood.
Wake up people – they re screwing with your mind at such a deep level it s unreal.
you people have got to wake up otherwise we re all doomed.
hello there, my name is Florence shellen, I found my name showing up on internet and by following where it came from, I just discovered what you just wrote about me : woaw, I am very impressed to discover such bullcrap !! I would love to know exactly how anyone who doesn’t know me at all can spread the most amazing twisted story ever heard on this planet . I’m sorry to say but my life is far to be as hollywoodcrap at it sounds in your comment about me : I am a mother of 2 children who would hate to hear this kind of slander about their mother. I’m living since 1996 in France, teaching english there and living the sweetest life with my two healthy and bright children. The only thing I did for Shan black (before 1996!) was to translate in french 2 sentences of his script that I never read by he way ! so thank you very much for getting better infos on people before slandering them on internet !!! may I by the way know how this “info” got to you ??
oh, didn’t reed my ex-husband comment !!! hahaha, I got it now… hey, don’t worry, stephen has lost a few neurones, now if you wan’t to believe what he says, go ahead be my guest : the biggest it sounds, the more people believe it !!!! and stephen has always been a pretty convincing man. I’m just going back to my lovely and sweet life, but please from no on stop slandering on people, if I was as bad as you make me sound, I could sue you !!
Well I don’t know about him down loading one of her alters but yes, he found it necessary to speak with my ex wife, Florence Shellen, while he was writing the film, “the Long Kiss Goodnight”. A friend of his, Maria Anaya claimed it was for some translation regarding french but there was no french in the film nor any french subplot or story line supporting a french translation! Besides, she spoke English but not perfectly and why, when you(he was) the highest paid screenwriter in the world do you need to reach some actor’s wife when the studio could provide you with a translator in Los Angeles (she was in Canada at the time) within minutes. Plus, my ex was involved in some very nefarious activity and I ended up harassed and blacklisted as a result of trying to find out who had threatened my little boy at the time and who had beat my ex up. She had all the marking as far as I could tell of a Monarch slave-victim of Ritual Abuse. Not some, ALL!!!
Wow, “Bernie,” “Shellen” and “Stephen” sure are some kooky conspiracy theorists. Not long after they wrote this, I actually wrote about their “theories” over at my blog:
http://carl-carlscomics.blogspot.com/2013/03/conspiracy-nonsense.html
They gave me a good chuckle, that’s for sure! That has to be some of the dopiest stuff I’ve heard in a while.
Oops, I apologize. I meant to say, Bernie is a kooky conspiracy theorist. Not Shellen.
Stephen Shellen speaks the truth and then gets beaten up for it, called names, and is treated the way shills treat their targets, but no matter what they say or do to keep their target down, they can’t make the truth not be the truth. Stephen is not a “kook” nor does he have any “loose screws” All of that talk about him over all these many years is nothing more than the same tactics used on all people who speak the truth. It’s shill talk. Nobody falls for shill talk anymore. There are a whole lot of people out there who love and respect Stephen Shellen. He has withstood the test of time, and he has kept a heart of flesh and his spirit is that of a lion. He speaks out for the abused and the tortured. If only the world had more just like him, it would be a much better place.
susan I wish you would find proves of what you are saying : I used to be stephen shellen’s wife, and for all I know, with proves and witnesses to demonstrate what I am saying, Stephen is mentally disturbed , He used to be extremely violent with me and I left home when he started having a dangerous behavior towards his children. What he says about being targeted is a full load of bullcrap that is hurting more himself ( unfortunately his children are particularely annoyed and ashamed of him too ) He should be glad that I don’t sue him for slandering, (I have much better things to do than play that twisted game of his.) I can understand that you believe what he says, as I also believed him when I was married to him (he was a good actor, and a convincing passionate person), but please, Susan, just reconsider the persons you believe, and make sure you have proofs and details about the informations you are spreading . And anyway, why anyone would want to target Stephen Shellen ? what for ?? I won’t get into details of my life with him , it is none of your business. We are now divorced and the french court has all the informations necessary to prove that Stephen is totally out of it (his own lawyer even felt sorry for me for being married to such a nut case!) Just make sure dear Susan that you don’t believe the first idiot that crosses your life, just because he smiles at you and loves you for being the rare person to support his mental disorder !
I refer to my comment above.
The snow is melting Florence! What lies you could get away with are now being exposed and people just aren’t as ill informed as they once were. Slander?? Are you kidding me after your accusations against me that have no ‘proves’, (obviously not fluent in english and probably not asked to ‘translate’ anything). Pathetic and desperate and the nerve to now, after all this time, to be coming out with other lies about dangerous behavior against the children. Plus, besides being targeted for over 18 years and harassment, blacklist and yes, death threats…I have never been to a mental health facility or diagnosed with ANY mental illness. Shame on you!!! You are one scary person, who despises God and as you said, ‘hope my soul dies with my body’. Yes, initially you caused me much damage with me ending up blacklisted and homeless. I could thank you for helping me wake up to a powerful evil cabal that affected everything in my life. But I will reserve that for God, his will and as it turns out, I am much stronger than I ever believed. You may still convince people of something but where is the ‘proves’ huh?? Where are the assault charges, see now with Internet anyone can look up anything. I do not take back my claims, even though it wasn’t my post accusing you of being ‘triggered’. I have openly defended you for the last time saying you may not be aware of what you are doing. That is done! All this after you had left me with the children that summer and only after our son started telling me of ‘a man hitting mommy’ did all this begin. Our son was then threatened to be hurt if he talked to ;’his daddy’. Yes, I do have a copy or two left of that conversation. I was not going to respond, but reconsidered, as I need to warn people of the scariest person I have ever known, and I have known ex Hells Angels and criminals. Nothing to beat you!!! Vile hatred, where does that come from? D.I.D.?? I think I know. Nope, no longer letting you get away with the lies and the direct hits trying to always isolate and discredit. Lucky for you I had some enemies. Love works but you need to be stopped. What happened to your orphanage in Sihanoukville Cambodia called Books With No Borders(sounds like but is not affiliated with Books Without Borders)? I noticed after I finally came out and did a radio show about my harassment I lived through that the site for that orphanage was taken down. On further recent research I notice many of these N.G.O. orphanages were either fronts or scams(about 70 per cent) and a crack down of sorts happened in Cambodia. No accusations Florence, just wondering as I could not put ANYTHING beyond you in terms of evil. nothing!! By the way, you mention a divorce but I never was involved or had the money for a divorce so I do not know what lawyer you are talking about. You said to me ‘I know very powerful people you will lose everything and wish you were dead’. True, you are connected to something powerful but I do not wish I were dead. Quite the opposite, as all this has done is awaken my search for God and truth. I have had several art shows, written plays and written and directed short films that have traveled the world. I have had my hand forced to no longer trust or have much faith in the judicial system. I am somewhat of an activist artist I suppose and yes, had it not been for you, whether you were sent in or not, I never would have seen this spiritual battle that we are all in the midst of. As a note to Douglas Ernst, question everything and believe in your faith above and beyond all the razzle dazzle of movies and propaganda. You probably disagree with me but I have a huge problem with the post humanist, transhumanist indoctrination we are currently going through in films and video games. Our souls are worth fighting for and a soulless yet more improved people are not in my estimation a good idea. If I die for the cause it is all worth it. Laugh all you want, but Florence is unfortunately almost subhuman, perhaps because of what she has endured. Honestly, I have so little hope for Florence, but if you can break free contact Russ Dizdar or someone like that. You have to have a little faith however, but even just that of a mustard seed will do. I remember how you hated God but God is not your enemy, this world is.