Yeah the other movies are some of the worst things ever made.
What’s also interesting about Verhoeven’s satirical spin on Starship Troopers was that Heinlein’s book it was based upon, played it straight. The book has copped criticism over its militaristic and slightly fascist tone.
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I vaguely recall the book comparing child rearing with dog training but that could be misremembered
Heinlein was a very weird guy with some very weird beliefs, including that incest with proper precautions against pregnancy was absolutely fine.
I actually struggled to get through the last third of stranger in a strange land because it all got a bit crazy… that might explain why
But the political theory that Heinlein explores in this book clearly separates the military, citizenship/voting and business.
Militaristic? Yeah. Plausible.
Fascism? No. Not plausible.
Heinlien’s most explored philosophy is Libertarianism of the type that modern USAians would find very palatable.
This is most exemplified by his probably most famous character, one Lazarus Long.
Who also exemplifies Heinlien’s biggest oddity. Long was his own Grandfather.
Which isn’t as bad as the main character in “All you Zombies” which was made into the excellent movie “Predestination”. I won’t say what happens but I recommend the movie and the very short story.
“The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail, Forever and Ever . . . I know where I came from—but where did all you zombies come from?”
Sorry, this is too good to not share.
The most preposterous notion that H. sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history.
The second most preposterous notion is that copulation is inherently sinful.
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Watched the movie Cedar Boys (2009) again, Very well acted & the character development & chemistry between the main characters Tarek, Nabil & Sam is so good that it feels like real story involving real people. Hard to remember a film that ends so badly for all the main characters though. You think through the final outcome & absolutely everyone on both sides are totally f*cked apart from the stripper girlfriend as in shot or with zero chance of surviving prison where all of them will have to face Tareks vengeful brother as a result of the final meetup in the apartment. I give this film 8/10
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Not really separate, the only path to voting rights is through military service. While the government isn’t military and serving members don’t vote, you literally have to risk your life to earn the right to participate in the system of government.
The quote about violence being the basis for all authority is very telling, it has a hard, cold logic to it that is, on the surface, compelling, but it’s not nuanced enough to really articulate the relationship between violence and power in complex, modern societies.
A path is nothing but a connection between two separate things.
The state has a monopoly on violence. All other authority derives from that monopoly. It’s not very nuanced. It’s pretty straight up and down.
The nuance is in the hiding of that to the general public.
Every revolution begs to differ. And fear of the violent potential is what’s supposed to keep governments in check, or at least busy manipulating the populace.
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The Romanovs want to have a talk to you…
But it inextricably entwines them, a social covalent bond if you will., they become components of a bigger single system.
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And the Mussolini’s are hanging around outside waiting for their chance to disagree.
If it wasn’t the fact that ‘Old Boy’ exist, ‘Predestination’ would have the most startling twist in all movies.
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The Gorge film on AppleTV+ was surprisingly good, without spoiling what is actually in the Gorge some of that worked really well and some fell a bit flat.
The romance/sniper stuff was the highlight.
That looks pretty bloody good.
Pity it’s on a streaming service I’ll probably never use.
Some decent shows on Apple to be fair, certainly worth the free trial at least.
Apple probably has the highest average quality bar for its tv and movies i reckon.
No one i know has the service though.
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Apple has some great quality shows they just don’t have enough of them. After you have seen them there is little need to keep up the subscription. I’ll probably get it again when the new season of Slow Horses comes out