Sunday, August 11, 2013

Ranting & Stuff


So as I'm sitting here pondering how to go about this rant, I am munching on some Arroz con Leche (rice pudding). Which is frankly an amazingly tasty snack. Just rice, milk, egg, cinnamon, and nutmeg. With no real redeeming nutritional value. But so damn tasty. Why does this matter? Because it eases my piece of mind. Which is important when dealing with something so offensive as the movie that is Elysium. Right. So lets get this done.

So the movie is pretty much just a redo of District 9. But instead of being a thinly veiled metaphor for apartheid, it's an obvious diatribe on immigration, with a healthy dose of economic inequality, class warfare, healthcare issues, and racism. Basically it's a shitty political propaganda piece. And regardless of whether or not you agree with the politics involved, it's just poorly done - because it's just so fucking blatant and in-your-face. Now my major beef with movie is the overt racism, so let's start with that.

If you are brown, you are poor, downtrodden, kinda flabby, and basically living a shitty life. That is the basic premise of the film. But don't worry, because some awesome white person will be there to save you. Cuz y'know, you couldn't be able to fix your own problems or anything - being brown and all. No. You need whitey to save you. Fortunately he won't be one of the evil white people. I mean sure he will be all buffed out and beautiful like every other white person in the film (unlike you who are brown and flabby), but he'll still be "good". And he will be one of the only two whiteys living in the same conditions you are, so he can empathize with you (the other one is a violent sociopath... of course). In any case, the good whitey will sacrifice everything he has to make your life better. Cuz he's like a martyred messiah and shit. Just like Jesus. Who was also white.... Right. Ummm. Fuck off? How about we NOT continue perpetuating decades old bullshit and stereotypes that just keeps making racism worse?

Then of course there is the whole class warfare and economic inequality thing. Which is also smothered in racism. Cuz heaven forbid there ever be a successful brown. No, they are all white (baring a one or two token uncle-toms that only serve to emphasize the racial inequality). And they are all evil. Cuz when you are successful, you become evil and uncaring and oblivious to the outside world. That's just how it works. You just basically become an American. Or at least how these jack-asses view it. Again - fuck off.

And let's not forget the immigration thing. All these people need to do is to get to Elysium and somehow their lives will be better. I mean sure, they won't have a job or place to live, but their lives will be peachy once they get there. Just like our female lead in the film. Suddenly at the end of the movie she is smiling and well dressed in the clean beautiful sunshine. Cuz that's just how it works. You immigrate and your life gets better. I mean why bother to fix the place you were living before? Oh, that's right. Cuz only white people can do that for you. *sob* Fuck. Off.

Then of course there is Elysium healthcare. Free magical cure-all-illness healthcare that is like a microwave in every home. Let's just ignore the fact that Earth folks can apparently do neurosurgery while stoned in a filthy chopshop. And probably a whole fuckload more if they actually applied themselves. But why bother when we can get it from Elysium? It costs nothing, and yet those evil people on Elysium are keeping it all to themselves. Why? Cuz they are evil! They have the energy to put them in every fucking household, and to fly shuttles up and down with nary a thought, but nobody would ever consider giving it to the brown people on Earth. No, no. Because hyper-capitalists would never want to sell something to a HUGE planetary customer base. Especially not something that would make them better and healthier workers, that could make more money, and the capitalists could sell them more shit. No. Cuz that's not how real capitalism works. Real capitalism works the way it does in the movies - bad rich people hoard all the money for themselves. And real-life healthcare works the same way. It's like free and stuff, but evil corporations just make it expensive cuz they hate people.... FUUUUCCCKKKK!!!!

Oh but wait! There's more! The military and police. It's a well known fact that everybody in the military is bad and plotting to seize control of democratic institutions at the drop of a hat. But what can you expect from a bunch of gun-toting baby-killers? It's just the way they are. It's the only reason people ever join the military. Cuz they hate freedom and want to oppress people. I know, I saw it in a movie! Oh and police brutality. When it happens to good people (like our dreamy Matt Damon Jesus) it's bad and horrible and wrong. But when it happens to people we don't like (like at the end of the movie) it's funny and justified.... Just... yeah...

And then like I said before, it's the same movie as District 9 all over again. Director didn't really step out of his comfort-zone for this one. Same damn photo techniques. Filmed in the same damn junkpile. Hell it even has the same damn actor (Sharlto Copley). Though this time he is the psycho South African villain. Cuz apparently South Africans are the new Nazi. Go figure. Anyway, I'm not really a big fan of Neill Blomkamp (the director) now. Shit was just too crude, ham-fisted, and derivative. So fuck him. And fuck Matt Damon. Jason Bourne, you are dead to me.

Ugh. Okay. Rant over. Moving along.



And in less controversial and ranting news, have another artist site for ya. Hibbli! Has been around for awhile. Does mostly fantasy. Caught my attention awhile back with some pics of a dark-haired hottie and orc in a tavern. Definitely worth checking out. So drop by and take a look.


So was also working on the next set. Realized I hadn't done anything very "summer-ish". So that had to be remedied! Peach and Zelda's summer vacay!

19 comments:

white80 said...

Tell us how you 'Really Feel'. LOL!!!

Seriously, thank you. I didn't have a warm fuzzy from the commercials, and you save me some cash. Thanks again!

Toastrider said...

A friend of mine summed it up as 'Occupy Space Station'. Can't say I could argue with that judging from the previews.

iberios said...

wow....
it is actually a sequel to 'district 9' but ive heard that dint come across very clear...lol.
anyway, one mistake....the singer of "Scotty doesn't know" deserves a second chance! :D
cant wait for more Zelda!

Faro09 said...

More Zelda and Peach content? Amazing! Their previous set was my favorite by far. I liked the ntr vibe you tossed in there. I'm really liking Zelda in the pic. I am looking forward to what you will produce.

Anonymous said...

Awesome rant, you said everything about the movie that was actually bugging me already in the trailer.
Awesome rant :D
You said everything that was actually bugging me already in the trailer.
But that Jesus being white thing isn't entirely correct.
Historically speaking he was probably brown or at least had pale brown skin.
But you're right, he was made white so people can adapt to him more easily.
anyway, keep your good work up and your mind clear.

Karandras said...

Please tell me there is going to be a set to go along with that summer picture?! Zelda looks awesome in that picture :) I'm sure there is some beach faring monster that could help them enjoy their vacation. :D

On a side note, I was worried Elysium was going to disappoint, but never thought it would do it on such an epic scale. Glad I didn't waste my money on it, thanks for the save.

Anonymous said...

So I've just found this blog today and I've felt the urge to tell you that your work is EPIC.

Keep up your awesome work, man.

Random said...

To be fair, Capitalism *used* to work a lot like that back in like early-mid 19th century - "Dickensian exploitation" I like to call it. (Though it's probably worth noting in some places, including the US, employers were still in the early 1900s resorting to outright thuggery to suppress worker unrest.) Then it started occurring to people, particularly in the governement, that this was an excellent way to make the working classes only too receptive to all manner of undesirable revolutionary ideas... suffice to say one of the first social-security systems in Europe was drawn up by such a notorious Leftist radical as von Bismarck. Eventually they even decriminalised trade unions.

At some point it also started dawning on the capitalists themselves that content workers required a lot less inconvenient surveillance and if you paid them decently they'd probably buy your shit too.

Anonymous said...

Please let Peach and Zelda get the damn good gangbang that was so tantilisingly promised in the New Years set. Don't be evil MB, or I'll send Matt Damon round ;)

Tantacel

Sarah said...

XD cannot wait for this next one. Zelda and Peach so hot

OBloodyhell said...

Wow. Clearly not a lot of liberal twits hang out here. I expected at least one to blather about how Elysium (no, I've only seen the trailers) got shit right... :-S

I think this is the best description I've heard of it:

A friend of mine summed it up as 'Occupy Space Station'. Can't say I could argue with that judging from the previews.

OBloodyhell said...

P.S., nothing to say about "Wolverine"? I thought it was better than the first one, and def. not shabby.

Also -- it's clear Jesus wasn't white.
He was Jewish... (XoD

MongoBongo said...

Bullshit. Look in any King James Bible and you'll see that Jesus was blonde and had blue eyes. And those paintings are based on photographic evidence from Biblical times! He was white!

(It's called sarcasm boys and girls. Learn it, love it.)

sumuner said...

What is this...sarcasm you speak of?

SOUNDS LIKE DEVILRY TO ME! X)

Anonymous said...

So was the acting bad? Did the plot make sense? If there was an evenly distributed number of brown people and white people would it be rant worthy? I'm all for being pissed that something is blatant, but what if that's part of the point? I'm curious as to how you actually felt about the movie outside of what you feel (and are likely right about) is blatant.

I am legitimately not trying to piss you off here btw so sorry if it comes off as such.

MongoBongo said...

Well it's hard to say if the acting was bad, or if the it was just the writing/directing. I mean it is possible that they were designed to be laughable over-the-top caricatures. But either way, no the characters were not really believable and did not draw me into the story. And I think my views on the plot were clearly demonstrated above. Overall, if the movie were not so racially stereotypical in such a grossly offensive manner, then no it wouldn't be terribly rant worthy. It would just be your typical bad sci-fi/action movie "with a message". And sure, being a blatant social commentary was definitely the goal of the movie (despite their claims to the contrary). But it's the offensive manner in which they went about it that is the problem.

And in other news, almost finished with the Peach/Zelda set. Just gotta wrap up the postwork - hopefully a day, maybe two.

sumuner said...

Honestly, its movies like this that are why I prefer to play video games than watch a movie now a days. I would say its almost guaranteed to have been blatant since just about every movie starring Matt Damon for the past few years has had some kind of liberalesk (not all bad, I kinda like "we bought a zoo") ting at the core of the story. I don't think its bad acting, or bad writing; they probably could have made a decent story had they not focused on those plot lines, but it is some bad ideaology...

Lazy Fuck said...

I know it's too late to really be suggesting this given that you're already wrapping up post-work, but that teasing shot of Zelda makes me want a post-card style "Wish you were here" background or picture of Zelda and Peach snuggled up tantalizing close to each other in tiney bikinis on a sun-kissed beach. Tits pressing against each other as Zelda leans back against a palm-tree, legs laid out in front of her, Peach leaning down in to almost kiss Zelda. Or just outright tongue-ing each other.

Yea, I'll uh...I'll be in my bunk.

Anonymous said...

Well, this is the Anon from the August 14th post again. Just saw the movie due to a friend dragging me there (I'd be pretty pissed off right now had I used my own money on it), and my basic impression is a straight "Apocalypse. Now." quote - THE HORROR, THE HORROR.
Seriously, this has to be the worst thing I've seen in a long while - I saw "Cloud Atlas" a while ago in similar circumstances, but *that* one at least had some genuinely funny moments, a honest (though failed) attempt at being clever, and a certain clumsy earnestness to its same-old message. Nothing in THIS turd made any sense, most importantly the world, plot, technology and usage thereof, and the tortuously overwrought emotional-appeal scenes *literally* had us collectively facepalming and groaning aloud.

The worst thing? Blatant and terribad plagiarisation of the now like quarter-century old RPG "Cyberpunk 2020" and the Walter Jon Williams novel "When Gravity Fails", also turned into a world/setting sourcebook for the former. Look them up on a torrent or something and spot the loans... the neural-linked exoskeleton is one of the more blatant ones.
GAH. D:<

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