Someone just recently ended up here using this query:
how to..revenge on barking dog owners
I can't help you there, but if you do find something useful, come back and tell me about it.
(Stupid new dog kept me up for an hour last night.)
Friday, July 13, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
A Different Kind Of Immigration Debate
I keep forgetting to mention to mention something mildly amusing that happened on Saturday morning before work.
As I do on most mornings, I stopped at a nearby convenience store first, and, like most mornings, there were a couple of vanloads of immigrant day laborers waiting in the parking lot.
(As an aside, given all of the high-tech and IT companies located here, I always find it amusing to imagine IT day laborers hanging out looking for work, with like a NOC manager showing up in a truck saying, “I need three CCNAs and four RHCTs.”)
I went in, grabbed the day’s supplies, and got in line behind one of the Hispanic day laborers, who quickly moved aside after being rung up.
While I was being rung up, the day laborer me came back to the register. The little Asian guy behind the counter said, “You all set” to him.
“All set? I give you five dollars!”
“It cost five oh two!”
The day laborer angrily said, “Really?” and then slammed a nickel on the counter and backed off.
A few seconds later he yelled back, “I only buy one!”
Little Asian guy responded, “Okay, okay, you no tell me. I give you money back, just wait man. Shit.”
“Only one!”
“Calm down, man, shit. You wait a minute.”
The day laborer then came up to counter again and said, “You too tired. You here all night working. You need sleep.” He then began giggling and repeating what he’d said in the way that stupid people often do when they think they’ve said something clever. “You need sleep.”
“Calm down! Just wait a minute, man, shit.”
“I am calm!” More giggling.
“Why you grinning? Shit. Get the fuck out of my store!”
By that time I’d finally been rung up, but I left the store kind of reluctantly, as I was curious to see if the war of broken English words would escalate.
(I’d put my money on the little Asian guy, by the way; he just seems like a seething cauldron of rage waiting to boil over.)
In any case, that was really all I wanted to mention.
As I do on most mornings, I stopped at a nearby convenience store first, and, like most mornings, there were a couple of vanloads of immigrant day laborers waiting in the parking lot.
(As an aside, given all of the high-tech and IT companies located here, I always find it amusing to imagine IT day laborers hanging out looking for work, with like a NOC manager showing up in a truck saying, “I need three CCNAs and four RHCTs.”)
I went in, grabbed the day’s supplies, and got in line behind one of the Hispanic day laborers, who quickly moved aside after being rung up.
While I was being rung up, the day laborer me came back to the register. The little Asian guy behind the counter said, “You all set” to him.
“All set? I give you five dollars!”
“It cost five oh two!”
The day laborer angrily said, “Really?” and then slammed a nickel on the counter and backed off.
A few seconds later he yelled back, “I only buy one!”
Little Asian guy responded, “Okay, okay, you no tell me. I give you money back, just wait man. Shit.”
“Only one!”
“Calm down, man, shit. You wait a minute.”
The day laborer then came up to counter again and said, “You too tired. You here all night working. You need sleep.” He then began giggling and repeating what he’d said in the way that stupid people often do when they think they’ve said something clever. “You need sleep.”
“Calm down! Just wait a minute, man, shit.”
“I am calm!” More giggling.
“Why you grinning? Shit. Get the fuck out of my store!”
By that time I’d finally been rung up, but I left the store kind of reluctantly, as I was curious to see if the war of broken English words would escalate.
(I’d put my money on the little Asian guy, by the way; he just seems like a seething cauldron of rage waiting to boil over.)
In any case, that was really all I wanted to mention.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
You Make The Call (Or Don't. Whatever.)
This image of Salma Hayek in her skivvies is the picture mentioned in the previous post.
I'm still undecided about it, but I figured I'd post it anyway for you to decide for yourselves if it's any good.
(If you're of a mind to cut me some slack, I'll mention that the source image I used as a reference was really small, dark, and low res. If you're not of a mind to cut me some slack, then I suppose it doesn't matter what the source was like.)
I'm still undecided about it, but I figured I'd post it anyway for you to decide for yourselves if it's any good.
(If you're of a mind to cut me some slack, I'll mention that the source image I used as a reference was really small, dark, and low res. If you're not of a mind to cut me some slack, then I suppose it doesn't matter what the source was like.)
Early Morning Or Hey Big Spender
So I got up early (7 AM) today to bring my car in to the shop.
I got there, filled out the little form for the loaner car, and waited.
And waited.
Turns out that the car that had been reserved for me had been misplaced somehow.
(They must use the same system I use – specifically designate a place to keep a given object, then never actually put it there.)
Coupled with the fact that one (of two) of the mechanics certified to do warranty work on Kias had called in sick, the absent loaner necessitated that I not drop my car off and instead wait until Monday to make another attempt.
Deciding not to go back to bed – even though I wanted to – when I got home, I stayed up and messed around with a couple of tutorials, then went to work on a picture that I thought was turning out really well, but which, I’ve decided after viewing again after being away from it for a while, really wasn’t.
In the afternoon I drove in to work for a training that was boring and has nothing to do with me, but was easy OT, and then headed to the comic shop to meet up with Scott.
It was a pricey trip, as I had two weeks’ worth of comics and decided to pick up the trades of Astonishing X-Men.
I still spent less than Scott, who picked up a hardcover copy of Stardust. He’s been trying to find some gateway drug comics that will draw Stacy in and hook her, such as the current (and excellent) comic based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is being done by Buffy creator Joss Whedon (who, BTW, also writes Astonishing X-Men) and serves as a continuation of the TV series (it’s even called Season Eight).
He thinks that Stardust will appeal to her (I think so as well). Or rather, more accurately, he hopes it will, as the $40 price tag will be much more palatable to her if she actually likes it.
For my part, I don’t have anyone at home who will yell at me if I spend too much, so I didn’t flinch at my total.
Besides, I’m practically made of money. Sure, very small amounts of money, but it’s enough to support the occasional spending spree at the comic shop.
For a variety of reasons I hadn’t eaten much for the day, so by the time I got to the comic shop I was starving, so Scott and I ate at the California Tortilla Factory and took the time to catch up.
And that was pretty much my day.
As I’m done deconstructing Revenge of the Nerds from a socio-sexual perspective, and haven’t the energy to provide a semiotic analysis of Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, I guess that will do it for this entry.
I got there, filled out the little form for the loaner car, and waited.
And waited.
Turns out that the car that had been reserved for me had been misplaced somehow.
(They must use the same system I use – specifically designate a place to keep a given object, then never actually put it there.)
Coupled with the fact that one (of two) of the mechanics certified to do warranty work on Kias had called in sick, the absent loaner necessitated that I not drop my car off and instead wait until Monday to make another attempt.
Deciding not to go back to bed – even though I wanted to – when I got home, I stayed up and messed around with a couple of tutorials, then went to work on a picture that I thought was turning out really well, but which, I’ve decided after viewing again after being away from it for a while, really wasn’t.
In the afternoon I drove in to work for a training that was boring and has nothing to do with me, but was easy OT, and then headed to the comic shop to meet up with Scott.
It was a pricey trip, as I had two weeks’ worth of comics and decided to pick up the trades of Astonishing X-Men.
I still spent less than Scott, who picked up a hardcover copy of Stardust. He’s been trying to find some gateway drug comics that will draw Stacy in and hook her, such as the current (and excellent) comic based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is being done by Buffy creator Joss Whedon (who, BTW, also writes Astonishing X-Men) and serves as a continuation of the TV series (it’s even called Season Eight).
He thinks that Stardust will appeal to her (I think so as well). Or rather, more accurately, he hopes it will, as the $40 price tag will be much more palatable to her if she actually likes it.
For my part, I don’t have anyone at home who will yell at me if I spend too much, so I didn’t flinch at my total.
Besides, I’m practically made of money. Sure, very small amounts of money, but it’s enough to support the occasional spending spree at the comic shop.
For a variety of reasons I hadn’t eaten much for the day, so by the time I got to the comic shop I was starving, so Scott and I ate at the California Tortilla Factory and took the time to catch up.
And that was pretty much my day.
As I’m done deconstructing Revenge of the Nerds from a socio-sexual perspective, and haven’t the energy to provide a semiotic analysis of Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise, I guess that will do it for this entry.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Seething Nerdly Hatred And Burning Nerdly Desires
Thinking a little more on the subject, it occurred to me that someone – someone other than me – if so inclined, could write a lengthy thesis on the gender politics of Revenge of the Nerds.
The main thing that this hypothetical person with even more time on his or her hands than I have and even less of life (if such a thing is possible) would be likely to conclude is that the nerdlier ranks of the male gender harbor some pretty deep-seated hostility towards women.
The basis for this hostility wouldn’t be hard to isolate – hey, rejection hurts – but I think that someone who has never considered it before would be surprised at just how much nerds hate women.
When I first began venturing out onto the Internet in the mid-90s, I know that I was amazed at the seething, white-hot hatred of women that was so apparent in message board postings and on personal Web sites. I never knew that there was such a strong vein of outright hatred of the opposite sex within the collective male psyche.
(In more than a decade, by the way, nothing has changed. At least not for the better.)
What was even more surprising was just how oblivious these nerds are to their own misogyny. Most of them would likely classify themselves as “nice guys,” if for no other reason than that they finished last.
Maybe once upon a time they were, but with bitterness having settled in, the nice guys would be difficult to uncover, if they’re even really there.
These are the sort of guys who might be heard to complain that, “Women only like jerks. They should like nice guys like me…the stupid bitches.”
(Of course I’m speaking in generalities: not all nerds hate women…and this sort of hatred is clearly not limited to nerds.)
In any case, my whole point is, beyond the rape and other acts of sexual assault, take a look at the role of women in Revenge of the Nerds, and the behavior of the nerds toward them. The nerds view women solely in terms of their own desires – I want her, therefore she should want me – and not as actualized beings complete in and of themselves.
Because they are only extensions of the nerds’ desires – consider the masturbatory nature of the relationship between Gilbert and his mirror-image nerd girlfriend Judy, who, because she is like them, is the only woman deserving of any kind of respect – it becomes acceptable to treat them with no more respect than they do the remote-controlled robot that cleans their frat house for them.
Okay, okay, I’m officially finished deconstructing a 20+ year old pointless movie.
However, on the topic of things that go back more than 20 years relating to nerds and sex, last night I saw that commercial for Veet or whatever brand of depilatory it is, that features Alyssa Milano and lots of shots of her legs. The first (well, I suppose you could argue that it’s the second, but I don’t think the first thing that comes to my mind necessarily qualifies as a thought) thing I thought, as I do every time I see the ad, is that they’ve done something to cover up her tattoos. I know she has at least one that goes around her ankle, but it’s nowhere to be seen in the commercial.
My next thought was the realization that I’ve wanted to bang Alyssa Milano for around 23 years now.
That’s like two-thirds of my life.
(I should mention that my wanting to bang her does not negate my recognition of the fact that she is an actualized being complete in and of herself and that she exists apart from my desires.)
Seriously, she’s the same age I am – a few months older, in fact – and by the time I was 12, which is when I would have first seen her on Who’s The Boss? I was definitely looking at cute girls my age (and older women, of course) and thinking “Awww yeeeahhhh.” Further, Alyssa Milano was pretty much what I imagined Kitty Pryde would look like in real life, so that definitely helped to solidify her position in my…well, let’s say “heart.”
(Other guys might say “spank bank,” but not me.)
Since that time she’s only gotten hotter, and my appreciation for her has never waned.
What is my point? Well, I guess I don’t really have one, but I just thought I should point out my realization that for more than two decades wanting to bang Alyssa Milano has been one of the few constants in my life.
Sad? Yes. Pathetic? Absolutely. Gross? I suppose. Crass? Duh.
Still, it is what it is.
So here’s to you – and your hotness – Alyssa, and to many more years of wanting to bang you!
Not much else has been going on in the life of Jon (yes, I know; that rhymes). I drove in to work for an hour-long training. I have another one tomorrow. It hardly seems worth it, until you consider that I can include travel time, so that actually works out to four hours of OT, which is a nice addition to last week’s holiday pay.
I also have to drop my car off at the shop tomorrow morning.
Monday I’m meeting with the finance guy to see if it’s possible to work out a loan that I can afford on that house I like. If not, it’s back to the drawing board to find something a little more affordable.
Still, it’s definitely worth looking into at this point because a. I really like it and b. the owner just took it off the market, which means that there’s a lot of opportunity to work out a favorable deal on it, as she still wants to sell it.
We’ll see what happens, I guess.
The main thing that this hypothetical person with even more time on his or her hands than I have and even less of life (if such a thing is possible) would be likely to conclude is that the nerdlier ranks of the male gender harbor some pretty deep-seated hostility towards women.
The basis for this hostility wouldn’t be hard to isolate – hey, rejection hurts – but I think that someone who has never considered it before would be surprised at just how much nerds hate women.
When I first began venturing out onto the Internet in the mid-90s, I know that I was amazed at the seething, white-hot hatred of women that was so apparent in message board postings and on personal Web sites. I never knew that there was such a strong vein of outright hatred of the opposite sex within the collective male psyche.
(In more than a decade, by the way, nothing has changed. At least not for the better.)
What was even more surprising was just how oblivious these nerds are to their own misogyny. Most of them would likely classify themselves as “nice guys,” if for no other reason than that they finished last.
Maybe once upon a time they were, but with bitterness having settled in, the nice guys would be difficult to uncover, if they’re even really there.
These are the sort of guys who might be heard to complain that, “Women only like jerks. They should like nice guys like me…the stupid bitches.”
(Of course I’m speaking in generalities: not all nerds hate women…and this sort of hatred is clearly not limited to nerds.)
In any case, my whole point is, beyond the rape and other acts of sexual assault, take a look at the role of women in Revenge of the Nerds, and the behavior of the nerds toward them. The nerds view women solely in terms of their own desires – I want her, therefore she should want me – and not as actualized beings complete in and of themselves.
Because they are only extensions of the nerds’ desires – consider the masturbatory nature of the relationship between Gilbert and his mirror-image nerd girlfriend Judy, who, because she is like them, is the only woman deserving of any kind of respect – it becomes acceptable to treat them with no more respect than they do the remote-controlled robot that cleans their frat house for them.
Okay, okay, I’m officially finished deconstructing a 20+ year old pointless movie.
However, on the topic of things that go back more than 20 years relating to nerds and sex, last night I saw that commercial for Veet or whatever brand of depilatory it is, that features Alyssa Milano and lots of shots of her legs. The first (well, I suppose you could argue that it’s the second, but I don’t think the first thing that comes to my mind necessarily qualifies as a thought) thing I thought, as I do every time I see the ad, is that they’ve done something to cover up her tattoos. I know she has at least one that goes around her ankle, but it’s nowhere to be seen in the commercial.
My next thought was the realization that I’ve wanted to bang Alyssa Milano for around 23 years now.
That’s like two-thirds of my life.
(I should mention that my wanting to bang her does not negate my recognition of the fact that she is an actualized being complete in and of herself and that she exists apart from my desires.)
Seriously, she’s the same age I am – a few months older, in fact – and by the time I was 12, which is when I would have first seen her on Who’s The Boss? I was definitely looking at cute girls my age (and older women, of course) and thinking “Awww yeeeahhhh.” Further, Alyssa Milano was pretty much what I imagined Kitty Pryde would look like in real life, so that definitely helped to solidify her position in my…well, let’s say “heart.”
(Other guys might say “spank bank,” but not me.)
Since that time she’s only gotten hotter, and my appreciation for her has never waned.
What is my point? Well, I guess I don’t really have one, but I just thought I should point out my realization that for more than two decades wanting to bang Alyssa Milano has been one of the few constants in my life.
Sad? Yes. Pathetic? Absolutely. Gross? I suppose. Crass? Duh.
Still, it is what it is.
So here’s to you – and your hotness – Alyssa, and to many more years of wanting to bang you!
Not much else has been going on in the life of Jon (yes, I know; that rhymes). I drove in to work for an hour-long training. I have another one tomorrow. It hardly seems worth it, until you consider that I can include travel time, so that actually works out to four hours of OT, which is a nice addition to last week’s holiday pay.
I also have to drop my car off at the shop tomorrow morning.
Monday I’m meeting with the finance guy to see if it’s possible to work out a loan that I can afford on that house I like. If not, it’s back to the drawing board to find something a little more affordable.
Still, it’s definitely worth looking into at this point because a. I really like it and b. the owner just took it off the market, which means that there’s a lot of opportunity to work out a favorable deal on it, as she still wants to sell it.
We’ll see what happens, I guess.
Monday, July 09, 2007
New Chick Section
If you look over to the right you'll see that I've added a new section for Jack T. Chick Links, with links to various sites related to everyone's favorite fundamentalist propagandist.
There are a lot more Chick-related links that I could put there, but I find these to be the most useful, entertaining, and noteworthy, and most of the other links can be found on his Wikipedia page anyway.
However, here is one that's worth noting here, anyway: The Face of Chick?
The short film based on the Chick Tract Wounded Children that is part of the film Hot Chicks is available in two segments on YouTube, so I thought I should include those as well.
Here they are (slightly NSFW):
Part One
Part Two
Some of you may wonder why I'm so endlessly fascinated by Jack and his world, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure.
I suppose it's in part that I find his work and worldview both profoundly silly and monumentally terrifying at the same time.
The narrow and naive simplicity of his theology is laughable, but the fact that he apparently believes it so completely and that there are so many others who believe as he does, many of whom make laws and hold positions of considerable authority in this country, is frightening.
Throw in the childlish art (except when done by "ghost artist" Fred Carter) and ridiculous plots of the Tracts themselves, and, much like with cheesy B-movies, I find myself powerless to resist, despite my better judgment.
Also, I do have to admire - to a very limited extent - his dedication, and the fact that, while it's not one I understand, he has been living his dream for decades.
His crazy, hateful, paranoid, and endlessly entertaining dream.
In any case, the links are there for you to use as you will.
There are a lot more Chick-related links that I could put there, but I find these to be the most useful, entertaining, and noteworthy, and most of the other links can be found on his Wikipedia page anyway.
However, here is one that's worth noting here, anyway: The Face of Chick?
The short film based on the Chick Tract Wounded Children that is part of the film Hot Chicks is available in two segments on YouTube, so I thought I should include those as well.
Here they are (slightly NSFW):
Part One
Part Two
Some of you may wonder why I'm so endlessly fascinated by Jack and his world, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure.
I suppose it's in part that I find his work and worldview both profoundly silly and monumentally terrifying at the same time.
The narrow and naive simplicity of his theology is laughable, but the fact that he apparently believes it so completely and that there are so many others who believe as he does, many of whom make laws and hold positions of considerable authority in this country, is frightening.
Throw in the childlish art (except when done by "ghost artist" Fred Carter) and ridiculous plots of the Tracts themselves, and, much like with cheesy B-movies, I find myself powerless to resist, despite my better judgment.
Also, I do have to admire - to a very limited extent - his dedication, and the fact that, while it's not one I understand, he has been living his dream for decades.
His crazy, hateful, paranoid, and endlessly entertaining dream.
In any case, the links are there for you to use as you will.
Why I Love Fables Reason Number 12
Snow White showing Shere Khan some mercy? Not so much:
--From "The Pirates of Upstate New York," Chapter Three of Animal Farm
--From "The Pirates of Upstate New York," Chapter Three of Animal Farm
Nerdly Sexual Assault
On Wednesday night, as I pretty much expected it to, the noise of the fireworks woke me up and kept me awake for some time, though eventually I did get back to sleep.
However, sometime after midnight I was awoken again by what sounded like – though Brian tells me it wasn’t – a fire engine idling outside my window.
The vehicle was obscured by the trees, so I was never able to make out what it was, but it stayed outside my window for about 45 minutes, keeping me awake.
As soon as it left, I started to drift back to sleep, only to be awoken again by the sound of the stupid new dog yipping its damn head off.
This morning when I got home from the grocery store the lady who owns the stupid new dog came up to me and apologized if her stupid dog’s been worse than usual, as she had been in the hospital for the past few days. I’m assuming that it was probably an ambulance picking her up on Wednesday night.
I hate that she apologizes to me because it doesn’t do a damn bit of good – the dog could be heard inside barking its stupid head off even as she spoke – but I still have to be gracious and accept it and try to pretend like I don’t spend a significant portion of my time at home fantasizing about snapping her dog’s neck (which is really something I’d rather not spend my time doing). I was not, however, gracious enough to inquire as to why she was in the hospital, as there are limits to my civility.
The whole thing makes me that much more eager to move out of here, but that quest isn’t going so well, as I got an estimate on the monthly payments on the only house I’ve seen that I really like, and they’re about $300 beyond too damned expensive.
Going in to work on Thursday was odd and even more annoying than usual.
First up was the parking situation. Now that the building is essentially empty, only one entrance is manned by Wal-Mart greet- I mean, crack security personnel, and so we are no longer able to use the ground level parking lot at the front of the building – even though the lot is gated, eliminating the need for active security monitoring – which is just a short work from the NOC and park around back, which is much farther away and one floor up from the NOC.
(They’ve also limited our restroom choices by permanently closing some of them.)
Beyond that, though, is the fact that roughly 90% of my job responsibilities have now been shipped to India, meaning that my job is even more boring than it already was.
As a bonus, those responsibilities were the ones that were pretty straightforward, simple, and hassle-free, which means I’m left with the 10% that is really complicated, confusing, and full of hassles, and with the 90% gone, the people behind the other 10% have decided that they need to become more demanding to help fill the void.
The other irritation comes from the people in India who took over those responsibilities, as one of my remaining responsibilities is to help them out as needed, providing support and guidance. Providing support and guidance for them quickly turns into eye-rolling and exasperated sighs as soon as an IM comes in from them with yet another irritating question.
Then of course there’s the obvious concern that this is yet another sign that I’m on a sinking ship. To that I say, “So?” I mean, what the fuck am I supposed to do about it? I’m not going to jump ship just in case. If it’s going to go down, I might as well wait until I get handed my lifejacket (the severance package).
Am I looking at other opportunities? Of course, but as long as I still have a steady income and my cushy schedule, it would be foolish of me to just throw it all away “just in case.”
On a totally unrelated note, last night I was flipping through the channels and spotted Revenge of the Nerds on Fox Movie Channel.
It was an interesting coincidence, as I’d been thinking about the movie a lot lately.
Why, you didn’t ask, because you really don’t give a shit? I’ll tell you: because of Transformers.
Specifically, some of my comments about the movie and its use of the cliché of the geeky protagonist who woos the hot chick away from her meathead jerk boyfriend whom she doesn’t really like anyway.
My complaint about the use of this plot device is not so much that it’s overused – though it really is – but that there is an inherent flaw in the dynamic, namely that people in relationships, no matter the basis of relationship (societal pressures, plot points, etc.), do tend to feel some amount of affection for each other, and, particularly with young people, they actually engage in demonstrations of that affection.
However, that is seldom the case with the hot chick/meathead jerk pairing, as there are invariably the scenes in which meathead jerk attempts to kiss hot chick and hot chick turns away, often angrily.
Now there a lot of plot-related reasons why this is the case, but my point is simply that there wouldn’t be anything wrong with showing hot chick and meathead jerk being freely affectionate with each other, and that it would be okay for the hot chick to actually like her meathead jerk boyfriend. Indeed, adding some real affection on the part of the hot chick would add that much more meaning to the moment when geeky protagonist steals her away.
Which brings us to Revenge of the Nerds, a movie which presents the theme of geeky protagonist stealing hot chick from meathead jerk, but has an entirely different dynamic from most, presenting it in much the fashion that I suggest it should be presented (at least once in a while).
After all, in this movie the hot chick, Betty Childs, does legitimately have feelings for her meathead jerk boyfriend, Stan Gable, and engages in public displays of affection. Indeed, going beyond simply allowing him to kiss her, the two actually have a sexual relationship.
(The other problem with the standard approach: the meathead jerk, it seems to me, would be unlikely to stay in a relationship in which he can’t get so much as a hearty handshake from his girlfriend.)
Another major difference from most portrayals is that Betty is that in addition to not being presented as being pure, virtuous, and chaste, is not even presented as being very nice.
In the standard dynamic, the hot chick generally follows the Elisabeth Shue in The Karate Kid model; she has a good heart and is disgusted by her meathead jerk boyfriend’s behavior, particularly in respect to the geeky protagonist.
It is, in large part, the boorish behavior of the meathead jerk that pushes the hot chick towards the geeky protagonist.
Such is not the case with Betty. Not only is she not bothered by the treatment that the geeky protagonist – Lewis Skolnick – receives from Stan, she is an active participant in the abuse.
Now the fact that Lewis does eventually woo Betty away from Stan, thereby redeeming her in a fashion, would make it seem that Revenge of the Nerds is a shining example of how the geeky protagonist/hot chick/meathead jerk dynamic should be handled.
There is, however, one minor problem with holding this up as an example: rape.
Think about it; when Lewis pretends to be Stan in order to have sex with Betty, how is that any different from slipping some roofies in her drink and taking advantage of her? Had she been aware that it was Lewis, not Stan, in the funhouse she would not have consented to have sex with him. Indeed, in the previous scene she refused to even so much as kiss him at the kissing booth even though she would seem to be obligated to do so, as he had purchased his tickets.
To me, sex without consent equals rape. Therefore, Lewis raped her.
This simple fact is not mitigated by the notion that Lewis was “good” at it, and that it is in Betty’s mind indicates just how damaged and psychologically unstable she is.
When she breaks up with Stan and says to herself incredulously, “I’m in love with a nerd,” she should really be saying, “I’m in love with my rapist,” and pausing to consider what that says about herself and then seeking out counseling.
This is all compounded by the other acts of sexual assault that Lewis perpetrates on her: breaking into her home and bursting in on her in the shower, stealing her underwear, spying on her with a camera, and making nude images of her available for public consumption (in more ways than one) without her consent.
Okay, okay, I realize it’s just a goofball comedy, and I’m not getting terribly worked up about any of this, though when you think about it, it is extremely twisted, but my point is that, despite getting some high marks for taking a different approach to the geeky protagonist/hot chick/meathead jerk plot element, I can’t really endorse it as an example that filmmakers should look to as something to emulate.
In any case, I suppose I should figure out what I’m going to do with the rest of my day, now that I’ve come to realize that disguising myself as someone else in order to have sex with chicks in funhouses actually qualifies as rape. So much for that plan…
However, sometime after midnight I was awoken again by what sounded like – though Brian tells me it wasn’t – a fire engine idling outside my window.
The vehicle was obscured by the trees, so I was never able to make out what it was, but it stayed outside my window for about 45 minutes, keeping me awake.
As soon as it left, I started to drift back to sleep, only to be awoken again by the sound of the stupid new dog yipping its damn head off.
This morning when I got home from the grocery store the lady who owns the stupid new dog came up to me and apologized if her stupid dog’s been worse than usual, as she had been in the hospital for the past few days. I’m assuming that it was probably an ambulance picking her up on Wednesday night.
I hate that she apologizes to me because it doesn’t do a damn bit of good – the dog could be heard inside barking its stupid head off even as she spoke – but I still have to be gracious and accept it and try to pretend like I don’t spend a significant portion of my time at home fantasizing about snapping her dog’s neck (which is really something I’d rather not spend my time doing). I was not, however, gracious enough to inquire as to why she was in the hospital, as there are limits to my civility.
The whole thing makes me that much more eager to move out of here, but that quest isn’t going so well, as I got an estimate on the monthly payments on the only house I’ve seen that I really like, and they’re about $300 beyond too damned expensive.
Going in to work on Thursday was odd and even more annoying than usual.
First up was the parking situation. Now that the building is essentially empty, only one entrance is manned by Wal-Mart greet- I mean, crack security personnel, and so we are no longer able to use the ground level parking lot at the front of the building – even though the lot is gated, eliminating the need for active security monitoring – which is just a short work from the NOC and park around back, which is much farther away and one floor up from the NOC.
(They’ve also limited our restroom choices by permanently closing some of them.)
Beyond that, though, is the fact that roughly 90% of my job responsibilities have now been shipped to India, meaning that my job is even more boring than it already was.
As a bonus, those responsibilities were the ones that were pretty straightforward, simple, and hassle-free, which means I’m left with the 10% that is really complicated, confusing, and full of hassles, and with the 90% gone, the people behind the other 10% have decided that they need to become more demanding to help fill the void.
The other irritation comes from the people in India who took over those responsibilities, as one of my remaining responsibilities is to help them out as needed, providing support and guidance. Providing support and guidance for them quickly turns into eye-rolling and exasperated sighs as soon as an IM comes in from them with yet another irritating question.
Then of course there’s the obvious concern that this is yet another sign that I’m on a sinking ship. To that I say, “So?” I mean, what the fuck am I supposed to do about it? I’m not going to jump ship just in case. If it’s going to go down, I might as well wait until I get handed my lifejacket (the severance package).
Am I looking at other opportunities? Of course, but as long as I still have a steady income and my cushy schedule, it would be foolish of me to just throw it all away “just in case.”
On a totally unrelated note, last night I was flipping through the channels and spotted Revenge of the Nerds on Fox Movie Channel.
It was an interesting coincidence, as I’d been thinking about the movie a lot lately.
Why, you didn’t ask, because you really don’t give a shit? I’ll tell you: because of Transformers.
Specifically, some of my comments about the movie and its use of the cliché of the geeky protagonist who woos the hot chick away from her meathead jerk boyfriend whom she doesn’t really like anyway.
My complaint about the use of this plot device is not so much that it’s overused – though it really is – but that there is an inherent flaw in the dynamic, namely that people in relationships, no matter the basis of relationship (societal pressures, plot points, etc.), do tend to feel some amount of affection for each other, and, particularly with young people, they actually engage in demonstrations of that affection.
However, that is seldom the case with the hot chick/meathead jerk pairing, as there are invariably the scenes in which meathead jerk attempts to kiss hot chick and hot chick turns away, often angrily.
Now there a lot of plot-related reasons why this is the case, but my point is simply that there wouldn’t be anything wrong with showing hot chick and meathead jerk being freely affectionate with each other, and that it would be okay for the hot chick to actually like her meathead jerk boyfriend. Indeed, adding some real affection on the part of the hot chick would add that much more meaning to the moment when geeky protagonist steals her away.
Which brings us to Revenge of the Nerds, a movie which presents the theme of geeky protagonist stealing hot chick from meathead jerk, but has an entirely different dynamic from most, presenting it in much the fashion that I suggest it should be presented (at least once in a while).
After all, in this movie the hot chick, Betty Childs, does legitimately have feelings for her meathead jerk boyfriend, Stan Gable, and engages in public displays of affection. Indeed, going beyond simply allowing him to kiss her, the two actually have a sexual relationship.
(The other problem with the standard approach: the meathead jerk, it seems to me, would be unlikely to stay in a relationship in which he can’t get so much as a hearty handshake from his girlfriend.)
Another major difference from most portrayals is that Betty is that in addition to not being presented as being pure, virtuous, and chaste, is not even presented as being very nice.
In the standard dynamic, the hot chick generally follows the Elisabeth Shue in The Karate Kid model; she has a good heart and is disgusted by her meathead jerk boyfriend’s behavior, particularly in respect to the geeky protagonist.
It is, in large part, the boorish behavior of the meathead jerk that pushes the hot chick towards the geeky protagonist.
Such is not the case with Betty. Not only is she not bothered by the treatment that the geeky protagonist – Lewis Skolnick – receives from Stan, she is an active participant in the abuse.
Now the fact that Lewis does eventually woo Betty away from Stan, thereby redeeming her in a fashion, would make it seem that Revenge of the Nerds is a shining example of how the geeky protagonist/hot chick/meathead jerk dynamic should be handled.
There is, however, one minor problem with holding this up as an example: rape.
Think about it; when Lewis pretends to be Stan in order to have sex with Betty, how is that any different from slipping some roofies in her drink and taking advantage of her? Had she been aware that it was Lewis, not Stan, in the funhouse she would not have consented to have sex with him. Indeed, in the previous scene she refused to even so much as kiss him at the kissing booth even though she would seem to be obligated to do so, as he had purchased his tickets.
To me, sex without consent equals rape. Therefore, Lewis raped her.
This simple fact is not mitigated by the notion that Lewis was “good” at it, and that it is in Betty’s mind indicates just how damaged and psychologically unstable she is.
When she breaks up with Stan and says to herself incredulously, “I’m in love with a nerd,” she should really be saying, “I’m in love with my rapist,” and pausing to consider what that says about herself and then seeking out counseling.
This is all compounded by the other acts of sexual assault that Lewis perpetrates on her: breaking into her home and bursting in on her in the shower, stealing her underwear, spying on her with a camera, and making nude images of her available for public consumption (in more ways than one) without her consent.
Okay, okay, I realize it’s just a goofball comedy, and I’m not getting terribly worked up about any of this, though when you think about it, it is extremely twisted, but my point is that, despite getting some high marks for taking a different approach to the geeky protagonist/hot chick/meathead jerk plot element, I can’t really endorse it as an example that filmmakers should look to as something to emulate.
In any case, I suppose I should figure out what I’m going to do with the rest of my day, now that I’ve come to realize that disguising myself as someone else in order to have sex with chicks in funhouses actually qualifies as rape. So much for that plan…
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