#early 2000s dear america

[y2kbeautyandother2000sstuff]

Dear America: The Royal Diaries "Lady of Ch'iao Kuo: Warrior of the South" by Laurence Yep

September 2001

Found on dearamerica.fandom.com

[jadevine]

Deadpool and Wolverine musings, Part 1 - On Deadpool knowing he’s Deadpool, the Worst Wolverine, and a Hero That Never Was: How the theme of failure in "Deadpool And Wolverine" hits too close to home for another would-be actor.

--- So now that I've processed Deadpool and Wolverine, it really hurts to see the theme of failure and being “the one who’s WATCHING people be awesome” woven through the story. You probably know someone like me, dear readers. I have big dreams, but no big friends or big bank account to pull them off.

The Deadpool franchise’s nature as a self-aware side of the Marvel Universe folds painfully into my own experiences as an artist.

As usual for Deadpool, the start of the movie is a wild ride: We open on him desperately digging up Wolverine’s grave from the end of “Logan,” because Deadpool needs Wolverine’s help--and he’s in serious denial that Wolverine died. Turns out that yes, he did. And Deadpool ends up fighting some furious Time Variance Authority soldiers… with Logan’s decaying skeleton. To the hilariously unfitting song of “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC.

Millennials, we can feel old now. I remember when NSYNC was rolling out their CDs in the early 2000s, and when I decided I was too cool for NSYNC anymore, I threw that shit away. Apple is now laughing at me for buying this one song again, twenty years later.

We then get plunged into an explanation of why Deadpool is desperate for Logan’s help, and boy howdy, does he need HELP.

--

Wade and Vanessa started having relationship issues between Deadpool 2 and this movie, so he tried to sign up for the Avengers to give his life purpose. In his interview with Happy Hogan (HELLO, SIR, IT’S GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!! WADE, SHUT UP ABOUT HAPPY BEING A CHAUFFEUR!!!), Wade says he wants to be an Avenger because “he needs it.” Why? Deadpool sure loves the battles that the Avengers are known for, but I don’t think he wants to be an Avenger JUST for violence or glory. There’s one MORE thing that the Avengers are known for: Being friends. And with it, being LOVED.

The running theme in Deadpool’s movies is his nagging insecurity and loneliness. In the comics and movies alike, he is constantly trying to join the X-Men or the Avengers, but his main problem is… Deadpool himself! You are your own worst enemy, as the saying goes.

He’s ruthlessly good at killing, loves his gallows humor, and he’s reckless as hell. The usual expression that someone’s weird/crazy is “having a wire (or a few wires) loose,” but Deadpool’s like an electric rat-king of jumbled wires. (A cash register at my work has one of those bad boys. I am constantly worried if it’s okay.) Later in the movie, Wolverine thinks Deadpool has ADHD because of how insufferably chatty he is, and while Deadpool’s constantly called “crazy” because other characters just don’t like him, fan speculations and writer depictions abound on what KIND of mental disorder he might have.

As TV Tropes would put it, Deadpool is “The Friend Nobody Likes.” Other heroes tolerate him because he’s skilled, but not many LIKE HIM. And he is all too aware of it, especially in the films, so by the time of Deadpool and Wolverine, he WANTS to be a hero.

As I mentioned before, he says to Happy that he NEEDS to be an Avenger.

But Happy tells him, “The Avengers don’t do the job because they need it, they do the job because people need THEM. Understand the difference?”

Many Avengers fans understand the core of the Avengers, and of the superhero genre as a whole.

I did not miss the shots in Happy’s office of notable objects in the main Marvel Cinematic Universe--and maybe Wade was looking at them, too. We call those “Easter eggs” because people will scour the film for them.

-Tony’s very first heart reactor, with the engraving of “Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.”

-One of Captain America’s old shields.

-Old pieces of Iron Man’s armor.

-A photo of Tony himself and Peter Parker.

Then comes the hurt-y part: “Please, Mr. Hogan, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life like an annoying one-trick pony.” Ouch, Wade. I am all too familiar with the sense of failure, and feeling like I annoy everyone by existing.

So Happy says to Wade, “The problem might be that you’re reaching a little too high. Aim for the middle and you’ll never miss. I think you got a good heart, I believe what you’re saying, but not everyone’s the world-saving type. Shoot for the middle and you’ll never miss.”

And after he’s rejected, Wade officially breaks up with Vanessa. WHY, motherfuckers?! THEY ARE MY POWER COUPLE!

So with no Vanessa and no Avengers, Wade becomes increasingly insecure/depressed, and he leaves the Deadpool work behind and takes a car-sales job with his former X-Force teammate Peter to pay the bills. If that is not an allegory for the constant misery of being an artist who doesn’t know anyone important, and doesn’t have the money to make knowing important people EASIER, I don’t know what is.

I spent years trying to get people to read my novel drafts on Wattpad so I can get them cleaned up and published for real, and then I could be a REAL FUCKING WRITER. And that wore me out, because I’m not a marketer and I’m already introverted. I spent years not being able to afford updated headshots to audition for shows, so I could finally be a REAL FUCKING ACTOR and do something that wasn’t a college production… but after I finally got new headshots, guess what happened? I’M STUCK AT MY DAY-JOB TO GET MONEY.

While I’m trying to be a real fucking actor and a real fucking novel writer, I’ve combined them into an unholy sandwich, by writing a superhero story that deconstructs the idea of “who gets to be called a hero, and who’s just a gangster/vigilante?” It involves the Tagalog deities being stuck in California as undocumented immigrants.

I feel like I asked every Filipino theater I know of about workshopping this script or giving it a reading or two when the draft is done. Like, I’m Filipino-American and I’m writing about Filipino mythology and Asian-American superheroes--I don’t expect people to spring a whole production onto the stage when I say go, but surely people would want to check my script out or keep tabs on me? Something to get the ball rolling?

But that involves having GOOD luck, and I don’t seem to have any. The theaters who bothered to answer me say it sounds cool, but they don’t have the resources, or how this script is expensive to pull off, so I’ll need to find someone willing to take a risk and fund my production.

I wanted to fucking laugh at those folks, because that means THEY’RE not willing to risk things for me. I want to laugh because if I don’t, I’m gonna murder something.

As Deadpool said in his very first movie: "Fake laugh, hiding real pain."

PEOPLE SAY THEY CAN’T AFFORD ME? WHEN I SPENT YEARS HUMILIATING MYSELF, ASKING IF SELFIES WERE OKAY TO USE FOR AUDITIONS, BECAUSE I COULDN’T AFFORD TO UPDATE MY THEATER HEADSHOTS?

This one time, I could have gone to Canada for a writing conference. It was about how Filipinos and the Filipino diaspora use their culture and spirituality as inspiration for their work. I sent them an email about my poetry and writing, and I didn’t really think they’d answer me, so I was pleasantly surprised when someone DID answer, and they thought my work sounded beautiful!

But then they said I’d have to get to Canada, pay the attendance fee, find a hotel and get from a city (either Toronto or Ottawa) to the buttfuck wilderness of a regional park, where the conference was actually being HELD.

So I said (politely), “Oh, I didn’t realize you wanted to hold a conference in Canada, but had no way to… GET NON-LOCAL SPEAKERS TO THE CONFERENCE. I figured you’d be handling at least some of the costs. I won’t be able to go, then.”

One of my friends, bless her heart, started a GoFundMe on my behalf. It went nowhere, so neither did I, but she tried. Another of my friends said it felt really messed up that they wanted me to pay the attendance fee AS A SPEAKER.

In my only bout of less-bad luck, I submitted some angry decolonizing poetry about the Tagalog gods to a show halfway across the state, and the team absolutely loved it… but that was before I had updated headshots. When the recent Facebook memories with a photo of the brochure showed up, I got to see my fucking Facebook selfie smack in the middle of everyone else’s nice, professional headshots, and that really stings.

I wish I was like Deadpool, and I had some time-traveling friends to go back and replace it with one of my REAL headshots. But I can’t spend all my time cringing, so I’m not only writing my stories, but saving up to pay 50-100 actors for a table reading.

I GET ONE SHOT AT GETTING MY SCRIPT OFF MY LAPTOP AND INTO THE WORLD. ONE SHOT THAT’S GONNA HURT MY BANK ACCOUNT. MAXIMUM EFFORT IS MY STATE’S MINIMUM HOURLY WAGE, MOTHERFUCKERS.

And that’s probably going to be my only shot. I don’t know anyone in theater professionally, because I never got a chance to WORK WITH anyone professionally.

For my script, I have three or five Filipino actor “friends” (more like acquaintances) whose shows I’ve watched a few times, so I told them how I have a superhero script that I’d love to get a reading for when the first draft’s finished, and I will pay everyone for a table reading in a couple months. And if they have ten or fifteen more friends of varying ethnicities, please ask them if they think my script sounds cool as well.

I hope I didn’t sound too desperate.

I try not to outwardly beg, but I don’t have a good gauge on that. I was the only Filipino in my theater class for years, so I never knew how to TALK about my extremely Filipino-oriented urban-fantasy, or if my stuff was ACTUALLY good or just weird. I went to open mics for a short but lovely few months, before I had to stop.

I couldn’t even afford MONTHLY TRIPS to read my work. Not only for no pay, but I had to pay AN ENTRY FEE and deal with the parking in this driving hellhole of a state. And then being a BROKE Filipino who still lives with my mom and works in food service? I always feel like I’m begging for scraps of attention.

I love art.

I love making art.

But with so many things depending on who you know--whether you can afford to go to shows, or go to school, or go to parties so you can FIND people to know--art really makes you feel shitty and poor sometimes.

My friends and about twenty or so Wattpad reviewers like my work, and they say I’m a great writer. It always makes me feel nice.

But when I try to get someone IN POWER, someone with MONEY, to check out my work and say the same things, that’s where I start feeling like Wade in the Avengers Tower--so close to the heroes I’ve heard about my whole life, seeing the things they use, the photos of people they love--and begging the doorman to let me be a hero, too.

[biggie-chcese]

top 5 games of all time?

objectively, i have to omit rain code djfkasd. that game is mid as FUCK!!! i still love it tho. scratches me brain just right. anyway, no particular order bc im indecicive:

Ghost Trick! genuinely my favorite mystery game of all time. the story is so good that i get why so many fans are so apprehensive about giving spoilers. the main twists sure did get my ass. also the puzzles are genius. genuinely my favorite puzzle game too i think

TGAA! i mean, this had to be here. my favorite ace attorney game, my favorite visual novel, my favorite cast of characters. this game has its flaws but none of which i felt truly hindered the experience. i've been a fan since before localization and even after the worldwide release it reignited so many passions of mine

Xenoblade Chronicles! The first game. it was crowned my favorite game ever for a very long time. i sunk hundreds of hours into it, genuinely love the story, and even got hooked on the mechanics and combat. unfortunately cant say the same for its successors

Pokemon Black 2! this may be the nostalgia talking but this is a comfort game for me. ive replayed it over and over and over. same goes for pokemon black. it got me through a lot of rough childhood patches and made me feel less alone at some of my worse moments. it's very dear to me

The World Ends With You. Not only do i find the gameplay and mechanics unique and fun, but i also just. really liked this game. i played it during my transitional period moving out of america. i think it really helped me deal with opening up to new environments and the world and feeling less anxious about the move. also the soundtrack is SO early 2000s (high praise)

[nonsensical-pixels]

Dear Sims 2 Community, part 2

Forewarning: Long post again.

I would like, first and foremost, to apologise to @sicksadsim. We have both talked our situation out in DM's and agreed to delete our posts sniping at each other. I was wrong to jump to conclusions about them and I deeply regret it. The person who originally posted the comments we were arguing about has deleted their comments and we have all agreed to start afresh.

Secondly, I would like to thank @jessica-ebadi for enlightening me a bit more on how racism works in Western countries. It was interesting to have a conversation with someone from the opposite side of the world and get to understand each other better.

Thirdly, since I was mainly talking about South-East Asian names and misconceptions in my original post, I have decided to make one about other cultures, nationalities, and ethnicities, and backgrounds! So here are a few below that I see being perpetrated way too much. Some are my own, some are from other people who have offered me their opinions.

Not all Indian people are dark-skinned. My own ancestors came from North India and that's why many were mistaken as Europeans during World War Two. I am tired of seeing people act as if all Indians must be dark-skinned.

Africa is a continent, not a country. Oh my god I hate this idea. I see WAY too many people in this community acting like Africa is a country rather than a continent. There are so, so many diverse cultures in Africa, so many countries, so many peoples! PLEASE stop generalising African cultures.

Not all people from one country have to be the same race, look the same, and speak the same language. This is one of those misconceptions in The Sims community that REALLY makes me upset. Most sims I see representing other countries than America are pretty much just the stereotypical person from that country. Every country has its expats, its foreign immigrants, and IDK, maybe people whose ancestors have lived there for decades but aren't what you would 'normally 'think are people who would live there. There are also mixed-race people too!

Karen are an actual race, they are not just your average 'I-want-the-manager' person from the West. You can read about them here and their story is heartbreaking. It literally drives me up the wall to see people, especially on Reddit, dismissing the plight of the Karen people because they share a name with a stereotypical rude person. Which isn't even pronounced the same. I am now informally starting a petition to change the name we refer to rude entitled people to something else.

Yes, Goopy GilsCarbo is a real name. It's a mashup of Goopy Rossi and Gabe GilsCarbo, who both worked on TS2 together. While I find it funny too, it's rude to call it weird when an actual person could conceivably be called this name.

Plus, while the developers may have put this name in as a joke, it does not mean it's okay for you to ridicule it as a fake name.

Yes, people have different, unique, and wonderful facial features. I find it so sad that wide noses and faces are turned down and replaced with 'YouTuber' faces that all look the same. Hooked noses are beautiful in their own way. Big chins are beautiful in their own way.

Just because something does not match your concept of what 'beauty' is, does not mean it isn't beautiful.

For games released in the early 2000s, the early Sims series has been remarkably good at representing people of different lives. Think Amaury Plumard from The Urbz--how many games back then had wheelchairs? And though it aged poorly, how many games back in 2000 had same-sex relations enabled? I think it's important to keep up that trend of diversity and openness.

If there are any more misconceptions I have missed, feel free to comment them down below, but please keep in mind that representation does matter and we are trying to get rid of stereotypes in this community. People need to have the opportunity to leave input about how they are being represented. You can have your discussions, just please don't point fingers and call people things before you understand what they're saying :))

[celestial-sapphicss]

i have finally finished my only 12% and if you saw me curled up crying on the floor no you didn't. some of the choices made in the show were so absolutely phenomenal i just have to talk about them (no matter how incoherent i may be)

i loved that the storytelling wasn't rushed. like desis like to say, itmenaan se batao, tell it with patience! it's very easy to make the show dragged out, especially when it's a slowburn romance, but i was still at the edge of my seat all the time! (except maybe last 2 eps but that says more about me than the show lol, if i start to rant about the father I'll never really stop)

in continuation of the above point, the choice to let the scenes linger a little bit longer after the plot point/conversation was over was so good! for example, literally every scene with the friends doing their basic kids nonsense! (bestest friend groups really <3)

that terrifying Eminem poster that gave me a jump scare everytime it was in shot ☠️ also the fleabag poster for some reason, in a show set in late 2000s/early 2010s!!! (i.e. make a show so good that even bizzare mistakes seem negligible)

speaking of the show's setting, oh such a core memory to see MSN, the flip phones, skype, that box windows computer, adding relationship statuses on Facebook, peak 2012. (im a sucker for nostalgia!)

i don't think i have to talk about how beautifully written CakeEiw's friendship was! them cuddling to sleep and Cake just spreading his arms for 'HUG! 😁', yeah. adorable

Eiw's discovery of his sexuality (with Love of Siam) and Hom being so supportive of him! im so glad Eiw had such a supportive family and friends! no matter how much of an 'other' Eiw felt like, no one near & dear to him let him feel like that and its SO important (snickering at the fact that Earth is older than Prem).

the entire America plot, omg, bawling. who hasn't had that friend who moved away, or who hasn't been the one to move away at some point? it was so well done, and all the scenes between CakeEiw post Cake telling Eiw that he's moving had such a bittersweetness to it, especially on the last day when they're promising each other sweet nothings! (kudos to the actors!)

Eiw saying that he's sad that he discovered his love for Cake but now he has to move away? KNIFE IN MY HEART! Eiw sniff kissing Cake and Cake coming back from the car to hug Eiw even tighter? NO PAIN

the letter/email style story telling in ep9 🤌 i love that they didn't go for the "they grew apart in the 3 years" or "one of them isn't replying" etc etc tropes because not only i don't like them but also it would be so out of character for them! and correct use of emerging tech!

love the confidence and the glow up for Eiw! he joined so many activities, making new friends, becoming part of the drama club, dresses like a fkn model, also got his hair dyed, GOOD FOR HIM

Cake in Blonde™! Him immediately begging his mum to let him see Eiw after getting back (in the middle of the night!). him crying and wiping his tears when Eiw hugged him at the bus stop. he's everything to me. Eiw repeating Cake's name on repeat and asking him to always respond? 😭

the enitre subplot of Pu & Tal wanting to be with Eiw was so funny to me skskskskks because have they seen CakeEiw together? one could be with their partners but would still feel like a third wheel in front of them. (and that's BEOFRE they officially got together) INSUFFERABLE

oh the post-show CakeEiw fight, & Eiw saying "Have you ever had to be the one who waits?" holt saying PAIN.gif. that entire confrontation/confession was so intense that i understand the choice to spread it out in between two episodes. and finally Cake saying "then i will be gay with you" had me laughing in the middle of all these tears he's such a best boy i love him dearly. (i was lowkey scared of the 'im not gay i just like you' making a comeback lol)

CakeEiw's relationship being written just as good (if not better) than their friendship!!!! the scene with "i love everything about you"? crying screaming shaking. Cake being basically a puppy? love that for Eiw

in conclusion, CakeEiw best boys and i miss them dearly and i want them back already

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Long post warning, because I should use them more often:

I've been kinda buried, typical of me when it comes to the seemingly-biweekly hyperfixation, in the early 2000s Disney animated movies. Namely the pre-CHICKEN LITTLE movie, prior to the studio's switch to a future in CG movies. (With the encore of pair of PRINCESS AND THE FROG and the 2011 WINNIE THE POOH along the way.)

And I noticed, a lot of them, including a few non-Disney animated films from the period, have an almost deliberate "old-fashioned" bent to them. Now, Disney was never a stranger to period pieces when it came to animated features. Outside of the fairy tale and fantasy films set in dream-like worlds, places that exist in irrealities inspired by the real world and their respective source materials, you had more than enough films set in actual identifiable real-world places in past time periods.

For example, before going to straight-up dream worlds, ALICE IN WONDERLAND and PETER PAN from the early 1950s are clearly set in England. The former, Victorian-era England, the latter Edwardian. LADY AND THE TRAMP is somewhere in the Midwest, turn of the 20th century. It's in a state where the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad ran through, for sure, as you can see a logo for it on a train car in the film. (Sidenote/tangent: The direct-to-video sequel, SCAMP'S ADVENTURE, seems to suggest that the town Lady and Tramp live in is actually in New England... But the B&O Railroad does not run through any New England region state. The furthest to the East it goes is New York state. It's possible that the writers saw Jim Dear nailing a Yale flag to the wall in the original movie, and assumed it was set in Connecticut. And the DTV movies are an EU sort-of situation when it comes to these movies.)

So those are three 1950s examples, you also had THE ARISTOCATS being explicitly set in 1910 Paris, THE FOX AND THE HOUND appears to be set down South right around that time. '90s Disney had plenty, too: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, POCAHONTAS, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, MULAN, TARZAN, to name a few. HERCULES goes to ancient Greece and mythology, ALADDIN is set in a fictional Arabian city, that one I feel is more on the dream-world level of - say - SNOW WHITE or LITTLE MERMAID, where the setting/time period isn't quite written out. This is why I don't tie myself in knots trying to determine where and when THE LITTLE MERMAID takes place. It's literally an amalgamation of different European and tropical locations, inspired by a story by a Danish author, and it has a Caribbean crab in it.

But no, early 2000s Disney is more specific than not! DINOSAUR is obvious, THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE is set in ancient South America (its Incan Empire setting originally had much more bearing on the story back when it was KINGDOM OF THE SUN, the movie that had gotten thrown out that this replaced), ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE takes place in 1914 - starting in Washington D.C. and then largely being set below the Earth thereafter, LILO & STITCH is present-day Hawaii, BROTHER BEAR is a post-ice age Pacific Northwest, and HOME ON THE RANGE is clearly set in Malaysia in 2177 A.D.

All joking aside, it's almost a string of movies like that... Except TREASURE PLANET, which is set in a fictional galaxy, full of fictional planets, and no sign of Earth, much like the STAR WARS universe. Yet, TREASURE PLANET's cosmic setting is 1800s pirates/high seas aesthetic meets spaceships and high-tech. After all, it *is* Robert Louis Stevenson's TREASURE ISLAND, a story dating back to 1881 as a serialized adventure before it was made into a complete novel two years later. Just take out 1800s Europe.

Now, at one point, the 2004 release of HOME ON THE RANGE was going to be followed by a movie called A FEW GOOD GHOSTS, which was once known as MY PEOPLES. This project went through several title changes over time... A 2D/CG hybrid that was a magical Appalachian love story involving ghosts that was to be set in the 1940s. The movie would’ve probably been released in the summer of 2005 if all had gone well, as it was to go full-steam ahead by the time of its cancellation in November 2003. By that point in time, Disney execs had long made up their minds about 2D animation, and because this was to be made by the Florida unit… Well, BROTHER BEAR didn’t meet expectations at the box office out of the gate… No more Florida unit, no GOOD GHOSTS…

What a lot of these movies have in common is that they, as mentioned earlier, are seemingly much more old-school than the animated movies of the '90s *and* their CGI contemporaries.

The majority of these movies were released during the years when a new CGI movie was - 99% of the time - pretty much an audience hit by default (SHARK TALE and CHICKEN LITTLE individually outgrossed LILO & STITCH, for example), and that definitely hurt the perception of hand-drawn 2D animated feature films. It's been written over and over, so much theorizing as to why the majority of these movies failed to connect with audiences the way the newest Pixar or DreamWorks CGI film did... And sometimes, I look at some of this cluster of movies and I can only notice how weirdly out-of-time they are… Either too late to the party, or there well before it's even planned. Like, years in advance.

As such, most of these movies became cult favorites of the few people who did see them back when they first came out or when they debuted on home video. These fans are all in their 20s now, at the highest. Yesterday's flops, today's "what? This movie SLAPS! How did it lose money at the box office?”

The majority of the CGI movies made in the late '90s/early '00s are thoroughly modern in some way or another. If it's not the setting, then it's the attitude. SHREK, for example, is set in a mishmash ye olden dayes fairy tales & nursery rhymes Europe (the first PUSS IN BOOTS movie further confirms this, being explicitly set in Spain), but everything else about it is as late '90s/early '00s as you can get. ICE AGE… Literally in the title, yet the comedy and writing rings more Looney Tunes and modern humor. I was turning 10 when ICE AGE came out, so I was aware of what the sorta-kinda general attitude was circa early 2002. The humor in the movie matched that; it was cool for an adult in their 20s to check out the talking prehistoric animals cartoon and quote it.

Pixar is kind of out of the question, well, this particular early run of Pixar movies. The TOY STORY movies, A BUG'S LIFE, and FINDING NEMO all clearly take place in the present. Timeless present-day settings, where it's modern enough but not too much to date the movie in question. (How 'bout that line in BUG'S LIFE about "the twig of '93"?) MONSTERS, INC. is set in a fantasy world, but that too is modern day, what with the cars and technology and every other detail. Boo doesn't walk in out a 1930s human world, haha.

When it comes to pre-2005/06 Pixar, the one exception in this criteria is THE INCREDIBLES, which is set in a retro-futuristic 1960s whose technological advances are informed by the presence of superheroes in that world. And yet, it's not a movie that feels out of time, old-timey, dated. It uses the '60s influences to enhance, rather than trap the storytelling. It’s also curiously not set in any specific American location - much like TOY STORY 1 & 2, and A BUG’S LIFE. In comic book tradition, it’s set in the fictional Municiberg, which I can only surmise is somewhere on the West Coast. CARS and RATATOUILLE and UP, afterwards, would go back to present-day. WALL-E, the far future. BRAVE, in 2012, would be Pixar's first real period piece, a fantasized medieval fairy tale Scotland. That was their 13th feature…

And yet, there’s an air of nostalgia for a past decade in pretty much the majority of these earlier Pixar films… Which is a deep dive for another day, and others have already looked at that sort of thing. But, a lot of the movies made by the TOY STORY alumni (John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich) in particular are very much rooted in the directors’ late ‘50s/early ‘60s upbringings… But not in a way that renders them "corny". At least, to audiences circa 2002, that is.

The 2000s, in general, were a much different time anyways. And it just wasn't the appropriate era to release a small cluster of old-timey movies. Made in what was seemingly perceived as an old and outdated medium, when 3D environments and characters were WOWING people left and right. I can see why most audiences just didn't take too well to a Jules Verne-style animated adventure that was probably - with its PG rating - too silly for anyone over the age of 10 looking for an action movie. Nor a very classic adventure movie-style space epic. Nor a cartoon Western that literally *looked* like a lost vintage Disney cowboy cartoon a la the 'Pecos Bill' segment of MELODY TIME and EVERY COWBOY NEEDS A HORSE. Nor a familiar wilderness adventure movie that recalled '90s "new age" vibes. If the Appalachian folk musical had come out when intended, I suspect it too would've been rejected for similar reasons.

It's no surprise that LILO & STITCH, set in the modern day and not at all old-fashioned like that, was the lone box office success here and - for a brief while - a major phenomenon once it was on video. THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE is snappy and modern and energetic, but that was impacted by its troubled production and the studio just dumping it. Its ludicrous legs at the box office and later video sales would prove that, people actually really liked that movie. The few people who saw it, that is. If it had been backed with a better campaign, that would've probably been Disney Feature's biggest movie since THE LION KING.

But it's those four movies... ATLANTIS, TREASURE PLANET, BROTHER BEAR, and HOME ON THE RANGE, that form this unique grab-bag. One that also includes DreamWorks' fairly edgy 2D-animated period adventures released around them, THE ROAD TO EL DORADO, SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON, and SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS. All of those lost money, too.

And they told these stories in ways that were incongruous with the times, when audiences wanted farting ogres and silly sloths and wacky Ellen DeGeneres fish. Maybe they all would've done better as thoroughly-CGI movies, maybe not… But it's a weird vibe across the films that I’ve noticed over the years. Quaint, in a way. Maybe it was “cringe” or whatever in the moody and edgy early 2000s, but today - with so much time having passed and the world ever-changing - it’s all rather charming.

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Now That's What I Call Music! 48 2001 Pop / Teen Pop / Adult Contemporary / House / R&B / UK Garage / Pop-Rock / Trance / Alternative Rock / Dance-Pop / Latin Pop

Alright, well, I know what *some* of you might be thinking here:

Hey, waitaseckin! You're tryna tell me that the 48th volume of Now came out in 2001? But my copy of Volume 6 that I hold near and dear to my heart came out that same year too! How the hell could they have released more than 40 volumes of this stuff within a single year?!

Well, you silly American, they didn't. I mean, don't you know that this whole super pervasive enterprise of repackaged contemporary hits didn't actually start in the States?? Now's original home is in the UK, and its first ever volume came out in 1983. And on top of that, while each of your American installments in the main series have only consisted of either one disc or one cassette, the UK's releases have been either double-discs, double-cassettes, or double-LPs!

So that's what we have here, folks. An early 2000s double-disc Now dispatch from the UK.

Now, I know that over the past week and change I've been really singing the praises of the UK music industry writ large when comparing it to America's, but the buck is going to have to stop right here, because despite this thing having a small, eclectic handful of flat-out y2k-era bangers on it, it's still, unfortunately, pretty freaking bad. The plurality of what's on this is pure pop music, and while the tunes that were also popular in the States, like Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird" and Britney's "Stronger" are the ones that undoubtedly go the hardest, the vast majority of the rest of them are just very flat. No flair or pizzazz in the production chops; just deeply uninspired, hollow, mass-produced dreck. I don't think I've ever heard a good solo Spice Girls single before, and that streak continues with both Emma Bunton's "What Took You So Long" and Melanie B's "Feels So Good," and even the often reliable Robbie Williams, whose singles usually satisfy with a level of charmingly catchy and classy glitz, sounds like lame Christian megachurch pop-rock here, with "Let Love Be Your Energy." Ugh!

But what always seems to make these UK versions of Now ultimately still worth a listen is the electronic music, which is something that the US versions didn't dabble in too much in the early years, besides a couple Fatboy Slim jams here and there. I got pretty deep into the nature of the UK music industry in a post last week, but to sum it up quickly here, the UK embraced electronic and dance music in the late 80s with the Second Summer of Love, which made acid house wildly popular, and ever since then the country has been far more willing to embrace many forms of electronic music, while the US simply hasn't.

So that's why there are a whole lot more dance tunes on the UK comps than the US ones, and even though they can be quite cheesy too, like Dario G's pop-trance defilement of The Cranberries' "Dreams" 😒, you're still bound to run into at least one very good song that Americans don't know anything about; and that song in this particular volume is a piece of house from Italy's Planet Funk called "Chase the Sun." As far as I can tell, Planet Funk have never charted in the US in any capacity before, but this debut single of theirs ended up proving immensely popular across the pond, netting itself a top-five spot on the UK singles chart in 2001. With a melody taken from an Ennio Morricone tune and vocals provided by Finland's Auli Kokko, this very sleek and well-layered gem really makes for a beautifully warm and nocturnal kinda vibe 😌.

But other than that, there's really not too much else here that Americans who had their radios locked onto their favorite commercial hit radio stations and their TVs tuned to MTV wouldn't know about. Usually when I sift through these UK versions of Now, I end up finding a lot more goodies that failed to make it Stateside, but nothing else on these two discs here really feels worth writing about. I still prefer the UK version of this series overall, of course, because the electronic music naturally makes it far more eclectic than the US version, but that eclecticism doesn't always translate into a better release; and such is the case here 😔.

Highlights:

CD1:

Nelly Furtado - "I'm Like a Bird" Shaggy feat. Ricardo "Rik Rok" Ducent - "It Wasn't Me" Modjo - "Chillin'" Britney Spears - "Stronger" Backstreet Boys - "Shape of My Heart"

CD2:

Feeder - "Buck Rogers" Papa Roach - "Last Resort" Planet Funk - "Chase the Sun" Safri Duo - "Played-A-Live (The Bongo Song)" Mýa - "Case of the Ex" Chanté Moore - "Straight Up" Joe - "Stutter"

[fauxkaren]

YOU GUYS.

I was watching the iconic K-drama Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (aka  Goblin) because it’s super famous so I figured I should watch it at some point but...

LOOK WHAT I SPOTTED.

IT’S A DEAR AMERICA BOOK!!! Specifically the Titanic one.

For those not blessed enough to read these books, the Dear America series was a YA historical fiction series from circa the early 2000s that were written as diaries from the perspective of teens girls from various points in history. They were hardcovers and had ~fancy~ ribbons to use as bookmarks. I was OBSESSED with these books and owned probably at least 20 of them.

I’m sure some set dresser just grabbed the book to use in the shot because the hardcover and ribbon makes it look fancy or whatever which suits the vibe of the art and books the goblin keeps around his house.

But I prefer to imagine the goblin or grim reaper sitting around, reading these YA books aimed at tween girls.

I’m sure I’m not the first person to notice because the drama has been out for like 7 years at this point.

But let me tell you that I FREAKED when I saw this.

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure 02 (Blind Watch) - Episode 36

Another filler episode disguised as an important episode. They seriously spent way too much time focused on soup and just nonsense dialogue. Also, I was tempted to time the transformation sequences because they wasted so much time with them this episode. They even did that insulting thing where Tailmon digivolved to Nefertimon and then instantly de-digivolved to do a Jogress with Aquilamon. What was the point? -_-

They're lucky I like anime food. Also, Shakkoumon's design is good.

Digimon introduced: Tapirmon, Shakkoumon

Notes:

-The weird heavily-lined art style is back! I don't hate it, it's just kind of distracting

(Look at those eyelashes!)

-Archnemon and Mummymon become goofier with each episode. I saw someone else on tumblr compare their dynamic to Yzma and Kronk, which is pretty accurate.

-Why does Mummymon have a "human form" when his human form doesn't even look like a human? He has grey skin and shark-like teeth...what's the point? (Kind of just noticed this)

-The Chinatown thing reminded me of a gag in Hetalia where they were saying no matter where you go a Chinatown will just spring up out of nowhere. Kinda cracks me up that there's one even in the digital world. (Like...digimon don't even have nationalities right? Hmmm)

-Both in the dub and the sub they were like "oh Chinese soup!~" which is weird to me for two reasons: 1. I know ramen originated in China, but in America we consider it strictly Japanese food 2. If this were made today, they would have just called it ramen, but I guess ramen hadn't become super popular yet. I feel like I wasn't really aware of its existence in the 90s/early 2000s, but maybe that's just because I'm white lol

-Tapirmon/Bakumon is cute. Now I want to recruit him in Digimon World 2 lol

-Why was one of the Holy Points a hot spring made of broth...why is there a hot spring made of broth in general?

-There's one point in the episode where the kids are fighting with Archnemon and Mummymon and then the latter two just randomly de-digivolve and run off? I watched the scene twice and still don't know why that happened. They even comment on it in the dub like "What just happened?? Oh well!" lol

-Mummymon was even more of a punching bag then usual this time around. I don't really care for that kind of humor, especially in a kid's show. It's just kind of unfunny and uncomfortable. (Especially knowing he likes it lol)

-All the bits about the Shakkoumon jogress digivolution were super cute! Takeru and Iori supporting one another and then hugging in excitement when they finally did it. They also showed Patamon and Armadimon guessing what their Jogress name would be. I really like Shakkoumon's design but it feels really inconsistent. Shakkoumon is clearly based on an ancient statue but Paildramon and Silphymon are mash-ups of their predecessors. That's kind of unfortunate, I feel like they should have done one or the other.

-The preview was like "Will they win the climactic battle??" and I'm just like "DEAR GOD FINALLY" (Although it could be a fake out so I won't get my hopes up).

-So I know Mummymon's crush on Archnemon is unrequited but it got me thinking about love between digimon. So far digimon have been portrayed as asexual and there haven't really been any mentions of digimon families either. I wonder if that will be explored at some point or...?

[risingfire17-the-weeb-trash]

40 Day Anime Challenge Day 37- Worst dub of all time: Cardcaptors (2000), English dub of Cardcaptor Sakura

Ok, this is my last Cardcaptor Sakura post!!! See synopsis here.

DISCLAIMER: I love Cardcaptor Sakura. And, in its own way, I also love the English dub Cardcaptors. After all, it was my first anime, and it is the reason I got into anime at all. It had my first anime crush, Eriol (Eli in the dub). And all of Sakura’s outfits are the reason I started drawing; I was so mesmerized by all the pretty costumes that I wanted to create my own. And it was one of the few shows marketed for girls on the WB’s Saturday morning cartoons, which, growing up without cable and in the pre-streaming era, was one of the few cartoon viewing options available. I found Sakura to be a very relatable person; she was cheerful, had a lot of energy, was awkward at times, a little slow to understand more subtle social cues, daydreamt a lot, and loved those dear to her intensely. Shortly after Cardcaptors, Sailor Moon came on and overshadowed it, and while I also loved and still love SM, Cardcaptors was my favorite because Sakura was near my age and relatable in a way Usagi and her friends wouldn’t be until I was older.

But, after growing up, reading the manga, and watching the original subtitled version, I’ve realized that the dub is almost a different story entirely than the sub. Because instead of just translating the script from Japanese to English, they HEAVILY edited the plot to make it more “kid friendly” for American children. They basically cut almost all romance out of the plot entirely, except for Meiling’s incredibly one-sided and obsessive crush on Sayoran. (Sure, leave the toxic ship in) Now, look, I understand that no CLAMP story is ever really kid friendly, even the ones that feature children as the main characters. The target audience in Japan was teen/YA girls and women, which was not a demographic interested enough in anime (especially ones about children) to market to them in the US in the late 90s/early 2000s. So, they marketed it to elementary school girls. 

And so maybe a little editing was necessary, though thankfully the original anime had already edited out some of the wildest elements of the manga (looking at you, Terada-sensei and Rika) And maybe the eventual romance between Sakura and Sayoran should have been toned down a bit. Like, elementary/middle school kids might have crushes and “date” (i.e.: holding hands and sharing cookies) but they’re probably not falling in love. But to eliminate all romance? The bears were not  “thank you” gifts and we all know it! Also, cutting out the part where Yukito (Julian in the dub) tells Sakura that he loves Touya (Tori in the dub)??? That was a totally healthy, age-appropriate depiction of late teen/early college age courting! Children see these much older characters and think, oh I’ll have a love like that when I grow up! But...too gay for America in 2000. And Tomoyo’s(Madison in the dub) unrequited crush on Sakura, removed. That could have been toned down to age appropriate level without getting cut. Tomoyo’s support of Sakura and her relationship with Sayoran is an excellent lesson for children about consent and not pushing your feelings on someone who doesn’t return them and not refusing to be friends because of it. Also Ruby Moon was explicitly female in the dub, when they were canonically genderless in the source material, but, if they’re going to cut the gay, of course they’re going to cut the genderqueer smh. Touya was also openly bi in the original, but that is proven by showing his past relationship with his middle school teacher, so I can’t really blame the dub for overwriting that part. Like I said, CLAMP isn’t kid-friendly. 

Cardcaptor Sakura was a feminist and LGBTQ+ icon far ahead of its time. And Cardcaptors...was a good children’s show and gateway to anime for a lot of American girls, but it was a children’s show. It was very “villain of the week,” which, given the slow progression of the main plot, was alleviated in the original by the romantic subplots absent in the dub. Cardcaptors could have been the icon it was in Japan, and I’m sure it would have been a much more faithful adaptation had it been released in the late 2010s to now, but alas.

Also, the English voices SUCK. I don’t know how I didn’t notice that as a child lol

[kingofmyborrowedheart]

My reactions to Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)

Mine-That “lying on the couch” was so strong holy cow, whomever is singing with her on the backing vocals is so strong, the instrumental leading up to the bridge sounds shorter, that “never turn back” didn’t hit as hard

Sparks Fly-So glad she kept that little yeehaw with “haunt me when yer not around”

Back To December-The strings!

Speak Now-Where was the sass in the “don’t you”????? The little laugh was everything though

Dear John-Vocals! The way she sang “acing” scratches my brain nicely

Mean-The little yee haw in “walk with my head down” she sounds so condescending on “pathetic” which I love

The Story Of Us-She sounds like she had so much fun singing “next chapter”

Never Grow Up-She sounds so good, I love how soft her voices is at some times

Enchanted-Glad she enunciated the “hey it was,” obsessed with how it switches ears at the “please don’t be in love with someone else”

Better Than Revenge-Yes the intro sounds so good, glad that the attitude is still there even though the chorus doesn’t hit as hard

Innocent-Her backing vocals on the bridge are so good

Haunted-That reverb is so strong, those last “I thought I had you figured out”s are so pleasing to me

Last Kiss-The production feels sharper/pointier at some points and I don’t know how to feel about it

Long Live-Her little background vocals are so good

Ours-Something about the way she sings “ghosts” is everything, her little chuckle!!! She sounds like she’s got a smile on her face on that last line there

Superman-The swoopiness of her voice on the chorus is lovely

Electric Touch-Sonically sounds like “Superman” at the start there, aw she’s nervous, bringing back to life in this economy😶, so true, there’s the punch! This feels like a Journey song (which is a compliment) they way she drags out touch there is so good

When Emma Falls In Love-Ah piano! It sounds like one of those jewelry music boxes, this is very sweet, the banjo!, 😦, not the “ivy” parallel…

I Can See You-Okay, did just get taken to October?, like the echo to Mine in the ahs, 👀👀👀, she’s like Sparks Fly (Spicier), also sounds Journey-ish

Castles Crumbling-Oh baby “Nothing New,” Hayley sounds so good, the harmonies are so pretty, I love how dramatic/cinematic the imagery is especially on the bridge

Foolish One-This feels early 2000s, what if I’m in your walls, respectfully, sir? That sounds like “Last Christmas”!

Timeless-She loves herself a good antique shop, is this Captain America fanfic?, alliteration babey!, “ivy” tease, I love when she goes hopeless romantic especially after “Foolish One”, ca-lassic, the classic Taylor trick of ending on the first line

[y2kbeautyandother2000sstuff]

Color Me Dark: The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North Dear America Book by Patricia C. McKissack

Published April 2001

Found on dearmaerica.fandom.com

[yhwhrulz]

Worthy Brief - November 8, 2024

Don't look back!

Luke 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.

When Yeshua (Jesus) was describing the societal atmosphere of His return, he said these peculiar words … “Remember Lot’s Wife.” It was a warning … especially to the generation of believers just before His return.

In Genesis 19, we read of God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and specifically of how Lot’s wife turned to look at the destruction and was turned into a pillar of salt. [Genesis 19:26]

She turned around … and the warning to us is … don’t look back!

This past Tuesday, the United States witnessed a historic election, with Donald Trump winning the presidential race by a landslide. He launched his political career with the slogan, "Make America Great Again!"

This powerful slogan, reminding many Americans of the nation's dramatic decline since their youth, inspired them to vote in hope of witnessing a restoration of former glory. For some, this was a nostalgic longing; for others, a passion for something that seemed almost irretrievably lost. However one recalls or defines it, America's greatness does seem to be irrevocably fading, and our view is that looking back and longing for its recovery is looking in the wrong direction.

While some call this nation modern "Babylon" or even "Sodom," what we see is a nation of paradox, full of tremendous blessings and, sadly, real wickedness. But however you view her, we believe it is unwise and even dangerous to look back to America's past in hope of that kind of restoration. Since the "Days of Noah" are again upon us, we're not expecting or focused on political solutions but looking toward the Kingdom that is soon coming!

When I worked for the Christian Coalition in the early 2000s, I began to realize that the real issues America faces could not be remedied by politics. Political realities simply reflect a nation's and its people's internal moral and cultural climate. In their drive for power, most politicians are simply responding to or manipulating the current passions of the populace. Laws can be changed, but they will reflect the mores of the people, shaped by media, music, art, and culture. Those influences reveal a nation's true soul. While some leaders are morally superior to others and may seem to offer hope, the real problems which plague society are internal and reflect the deeply rooted sin in human nature. The Gospel of Yeshua, the Messiah (Jesus Christ), is the only path and hope for any degree of national restoration. Anyone who has studied revivals can see this.

So nostalgically looking at the past with a view toward political transformation might not turn you into a pillar of salt but may seriously deflect us from the real hope and task of transformation: the Gospel, which points to the coming Kingdom and the coming King. Any reclamation of greatness, individual or national, will depend utterly on the transforming power of the Messiah and the profound inner work of His Holy Spirit.

Let’s not look back as Lot's wife did toward whatever the "good life" was in Sodom or America; [Luke 9:62]. Any "greatness" that's worth regaining will come from looking UP, not back! Our calling is to make disciples, anticipating the coming Kingdom where politics will not be "as usual" but everlasting righteousness in the presence of our King Yeshua.

Shabbat Shalom and have a great weekend!

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Baht Rivka, Obadiah and Elianna (Melbourne, Florida)

Editor's Note: Latest YouTube video published: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QThFC-2LJJ0

Editor's Note: Feel free to share any of our content from Worthy, including Devotions, News articles, and more, on your social platforms. You have full permission to copy and repost anything we produce.

Editor's Note: During this war, we have been live blogging throughout the day -- sometimes minute by minute on our Telegram channel.https://t.me/worthywatch/ Be sure to check it out!

Editor's Note: Dear friends — we are going to be heading WEST!!! Now booking in the following states: Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, and Arkansas …. If you know Pastors, Rabbis or Ministry Leaders who might be interested in some powerful Israeli style Hebrew/English worship and a refreshing word from Worthy News about what’s going on in the Land, please let us know how to connect with them and we will do our best to get you on our schedule! You can send an email to george [ @ ] worthyministries.com for more information.

[dankusner]

Is era of conservative-leaning comedy emerging?

Personalities like Rogan, Von find audience, political influence

Greg Gutfeld smirked as he began reading off the teleprompter.

“Delta’s DEI officer has banned the term ‘ladies and gentlemen’ from airport announcements,” he said in a satiric tone.

Then he hit the punchline:

“And replaced it with ‘Dear customers of all gender identities, your flight is canceled, and your stewardess has a …” he said, using a crude word for the male anatomy.

The live studio audience that had gathered to watch the Fox News commentator- turned-late-night-host erupted in laughter and applause.

It’s the type of joke that might have appeared in the 1980s and ’90s on sketch shows like “Saturday Night Live,” and stand-up specials like Eddie Murphy’s “Delirious.”

But as the culture has changed, and the country has become more polarized, not everyone is laughing.

Like many cultural touchstones, comedy viewership has begun to split along partisan lines.

Now, a group of antiestablishment comedians has found a pot of gold serving a conservative audience.

While these comics often say their jokes aren’t intended to be partisan, they largely cater to right-wing crowds looking for a reprieve from political correctness.

And in the last few years, their viewership has skyrocketed.

The burgeoning group includes personalities like Joe Rogan, Theo Von and Gutfeld – who since 2021 has consistently ranked as the top-watched late-night comedian in America, beating out major network stars including Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon.

Their popularity suggests the rise of a new conservative culture movement – one that has drawn the attention of GOP politicians and commentators.

Former President Donald Trump made waves in late August when he sat down for an episode of Von’s podcast, “This Past Weekend,” and his appearance on “Gutfeld!” in mid-September marked the former president’s first time on late-night television since 2016.

Trump has also expressed a desire to appear on Rogan’s show, which ranks No. 1 on Spotify.

As Trump and the GOP attempt to grow their base, particularly among young men, these nontraditional, highly popular, comedic voices could provide the perfect avenue through which to reach them.

The void

The growth of conservative- leaning comedy over the last few years in many ways has mirrored the emergence of leftleaning satirists like Jon Stewart in the early 2000s.

Stewart, the host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” gained popularity for mocking the idiosyncrasies of former President George W. Bush and his administration.

While he took aim at both political parties, as well as the news media, Republicans were often the butt of his jokes.

Much of Stewart’s young audience at the time leaned liberal, and many thought of him as a news source.

A 2004 Pew Research poll found that 21% of people ages 18 to 29 regularly got their election coverage from “The Daily Show” and other comedy programs like “Saturday Night Live.”

Like the conservative comedians emerging today, however, Stewart didn’t view his show as expressly ideological.

He acknowledged his own liberal biases but said in a 2005 interview with the Guardian that his foremost goal was to make people laugh.

By the time Stewart left his post as the fulltime host of “The Daily Show” 10 years later, his impact on the comedy world was evident.

Alumni of his show like Jon Oliver, Colbert and Samantha Bee dominated the late-night comedy world.

Those, and many other late-night programs, had begun to lean into liberal points of view in their monologues.

Few mainstream comedians were speaking to the perspectives of the millions of Republican viewers across the U.S.

More Democrats than Republicans watch latenight comedy, according to a YouGov poll published earlier this year.

Half of Republicans said that these shows focus too much on politics, and 57% said they’re too liberal.

Only 10% of Democrats saw the same political bias.

Nick Marx and Matt Sienkiewicz, authors of the book “That’s Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them,” argue that the void gave way to the rise of comedians like Gutfeld and Rogan.

“Many of them correctly assessed that there was a market for right-leaning comedy,” said Marx, a professor of film and media studies at Colorado State University.

“Whether they believed it or not, they leaned into it hard, and they’ve become … quite profitable.”

A political undercurrent

These comedians don’t think of themselves as overtly partisan. Tom Connor, the executive producer of Gutfeld’s show, said that while the late-night show airs on Fox News, a network associated with conservative viewpoints, it isn’t explicitly designed to appeal to people of a particular party.

“It’s just what’s funny to us,” Connor said. “Whether someone else wants to say, ‘Oh, this is conservative comedy,’ we don’t necessarily think of it that way.”

Just as Stewart holds more liberal beliefs, Gutfeld holds a more conservative point of view.

Those personal beliefs at times seep into the show.

When Trump was a guest, for instance, Gutfeld repeatedly described him as both the 45th and 47th president, though Trump is currently in a tight race to win the title for a second time.

The same goes for Rogan, who, throughout his decadeslong career, has made jokes about and expressed support for politicians on both sides of the political aisle.

He has attempted to walk a careful line by defining his humor as more politically incorrect than overtly partisan.

But since 2020, Rogan has showcased far more right-leaning politicians and commentators on his podcast than left-leaning ones.

They’ve included politicians like U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who have both endorsed Trump, and conservative commentators such as Ben Shapiro, Tucker Carlson and Matt Walsh.

Rogan also has often repeated pro-Trump talking points and false claims about Vice President Kamala Harris on his show.

In an episode with Walsh, he pushed the debunked conspiracy that Harris’ pearl earrings during their recent presidential debate were secret Bluetooth earpieces.

He later expressed doubt about the validity of Trump’s 34 felony convictions in his New York hush-money case.

“It is true that he’s a convicted felon now, but is it true that it makes any sense? No,” Rogan said.

Marx and Sienkiewicz argue that, regardless of Rogan’s own political beliefs, the guests he has on and the rhetoric he uses are meant to embrace the more conservative-leaning viewers who watch his show.

His personal political beliefs might be murky, but Sienkiwewicz said “it’s very clear what his demographics are.”

His show, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” has been the most popular podcast in the U.S for the past five years.

He has more than 17 million subscribers on YouTube.

A majority of those listeners are young men, and nearly half identify as Republican, according to a 2022 study published by Morning Consult. Many of them hold similar beliefs to those that Rogan discusses in his show.

The 2024 impact

In a tight presidential race – where tens of thousands of votes could decide the election – both major political parties are looking for ways to appeal to key voters.

And these highly watched and listened to personalities could influence enough voters to make a crucial difference.

While Harris and Democrats have leaned into memes to energize a younger voter base, Trump and Republicans have been trying to widen their base of support among men, particularly young men, who are target viewers for rightleaning comedy.

Republicans have long held leads among men in presidential elections, and this election is no different.

A recent ABC News/Ipsos poll shows Trump leading Harris among men by 5 percentage points, 51% to 46%.

In the latest USA TODAY/ Suffolk poll, the breakdown of support of the 43% of respondents who said they’d vote for Trump shows that more than half (51%) are men, while 36% are women.

Trump’s campaign has attempted to further cultivate support among male voters by appearing with masculine cultural figures.

Earlier this summer, the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee showcased speakers like Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White, a longtime friend of Trump’s, and Hulk Hogan, a controversial professional wrestler who helped bring the sport into the mainstream.

Von, who interviewed Trump last month, and Rogan also both have ties to the UFC and White.

The comedian Tyrus, who is a mainstay guest on Gutfeld’s show, also dabbled in the fighting world as a professional wrestler.

He gifted Trump a custom wrestling belt when the former president appeared on the show earlier this month.

Marx sees the convergence of comedy, the fighting world and politics as a potential boon for the Republican Party.

“It’s all a very intentional push to get young men to vote,” he said of Trump’s appearances with the comedians and fighters.

“There’s a real sort of robust and growing market for conservative entertainment content and … comedy is precursor.”

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[pazodetrasalba]

A hornet's nest

Dear Caroline:

Yesterday afternoon our (very inefficient) state-owned mail service finally confirmed that the letter I had sent during the holidays had arrived at your lawyer's offices on January 9th. As I ignore how disconnected you might be from the Internet, that gives me a sliver of hope that some words of mine might have arrived to you, and some epsilon greater than zero chance that you have read them and found some comfort therein.

Back to today's post, this is one of those 'kicking the hornet's nest' moments of yours which have been exploited and lionized by sensationalist journalism in the absurd quest to peddle you as 'the darling of the alt-right' (?!), which really says a lot about the state of the profession nowadays. Genetics is, of course, a very thin ice-sheet domain of which to tread on, where massive past and present abuse and misuse and current strongly held beliefs make it unwise to say anything lightly. The word 'infohazard' comes to mind, and all the more appropriate that it was coined by Nick Bostrom, whose late "Apology for an Old Email" has rocked the EA community to a degree no lesser than the whole FTX affair itself.

Not that you say anything I would consider controversial in the lines above. The presence of pre-Beringian inhabitants in the Americas is, indeed, something 'crazy and not widely known enough', and the result, it appears, of great advances in genome sequencing. In the early 2000s I took a course at university on the 'Prehistory of the New World' where there was much talk of Folsom arrow points and Clovis stone tools, and of the conventional settlement narrative of the western continent. As this is an area I haven't been following much, I was quite surprised by this article you link to and its information.

It seems there are some issues not with its data, but rather with Razib Khan's liaisons dangereuses with the Alt-Right and some more controversial statements of his elsewhere about race and intelligence correlations. One would be inclined to dismiss preoccupations about this where it not for the fact that Bostrom's letter seems to update priors about how the obsession with intelligence and with following unusual paths and threads of thought in the EA and rationalist communities can very easily derail. Besides, Bostrom's position and notoriety immediately brings to mind the old adage “They must consider that great responsibility follows inseparably from great power”.

I am myself a little bit at odds regarding this. My natural inclination as a zealot of Truth however unpalatable would lead me to reject any and all sorts of attempts to police intellectual scrutiny and exploration, and to focus the light of reason even on (or especially on) commonly and strongly held beliefs. On the other hand, because of reasons already mentioned, I would consider it silly to comment and explore this intellectual minefield unless you are actually a cutting-edge researcher with unimpeachable and abundant evidence to back up your claims. A case could be made, though, if one is thinking about Kuhnian paradigms in a field, that strong inertia for deeply held positions makes it impracticable to articulate alternative discourses and generates a closed feedback loop that is very difficult to break. And isn't a key part of the EA ethos to rationally explore the unconventional 'roads less taken'?

Quote:

And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

John, 8:32