MADAtron's recent activity

  1. Comment on How the women of The Expanse are expanding our worldview in ~life.women

    MADAtron
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    Having finished The Expanse up to the end of season 3, I was looking over some reviews and opinions on the show thus far, and found I agree with a lot of what I read in this article. While it...

    Having finished The Expanse up to the end of season 3, I was looking over some reviews and opinions on the show thus far, and found I agree with a lot of what I read in this article. While it doesn't go into as much detail as it could in the bios of each of the female characters it references, it does highlight how the show treats its women in a mature and multilayered way, and how heroism within the show is not restricted to traditionally masculine tropes.

    7 votes

  3. Comment on How The Last Jedi defies expectations in ~movies

    MADAtron
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    That's an interesting interpretation, that improvements in the ability to use the force could be unlocked by achieving some sort of emotional turning point or catharsis, though I'm not sure the...

    That's an interesting interpretation, that improvements in the ability to use the force could be unlocked by achieving some sort of emotional turning point or catharsis, though I'm not sure the existing movies bear that out - mastery of the light side powers takes time (not necessarily 15 years though) and requires a level of mental maturity or discipline. The force isn't earned through bravery, acceptance, etc. Luke already had bravery and political motivation at the start of ANH, and wasn't able to start using the force even in a minimal fashion until Obi-wan started showing him the ropes. Learning the truth about Vader was the big obstacle in his life, which training allowed him to ultimately overcome. Rey's powers manifested at the end of TFA prior to her having any kind of emotional resolution for her past, which ended up being detailed in TLJ.

    So the light side powers in the force are (or used to be) a reflection of the efforts they've put in to preparing themselves mentally for challenges ahead, often implying that the result is extreme longevity or good health (i.e. Obi-Wan, Yoda).

    Conversely, on the dark side, powers are amplified by succumbing to one's base urges and emotions (anger, rage, etc). The emotions are increased when some emotional trauma occurs to the dark side user. These increases in power are always accompanied by some sort of physical change in the character themselves, as a physical representation of the corrupting influence of their power (Palpatine's aged appearance, Vader's lost limbs and scars, Kylo's scarred face).

    My point being that the sequel movies so far have stayed true to how powers are shown on the dark side, but Rey is an exception to every light side user that has been seen before, in that she hasn't had to go through a mental training regimen before having her abilities appear. This significantly changes what the light side represents within the universe, and for viewers of the series in general.

    1 vote

  4. Comment on How The Last Jedi defies expectations in ~movies

    MADAtron
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    Ignoring any portrayals in the prequels or EU, take the original trilogy; it's the training/practice in the ways of the Force that allows Luke to conquer his inner demons and remain faithful to...

    Ignoring any portrayals in the prequels or EU, take the original trilogy; it's the training/practice in the ways of the Force that allows Luke to conquer his inner demons and remain faithful to the light side. Part of his journey was that he had to experience the toil of genuine labor in order to steel himself for his final confrontation with Vader and the emperor. Yoda's big fear was that not taking the training required to mentally prepare himself left Luke vulnerable to falling into the Dark path - specifically referenced multiple times as 'the easy way', or 'quicker' path to power. The emperor himself refers to Luke's feeble "skills" being no match for the power of the dark side.

    Interpreting the force as a mystical magic that can activate in anyone at any time robs the heroes of any true accomplishment of their own and ignores the fundamental role it plays in character development in the OT as well as the prequels and non-canon EU.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on How The Last Jedi defies expectations in ~movies

    MADAtron
    Link Parent
    I don't think having a strong female lead in the movie itself caused the rift with established canon, but the way in which Rey and Leia's force powers manifest contrasts harshly with what we've...

    I don't think having a strong female lead in the movie itself caused the rift with established canon, but the way in which Rey and Leia's force powers manifest contrasts harshly with what we've seen before in the movies and series. This gives the impression that the writers chose to ignore (or were instructed to ignore) canon to re-write the rules of the universe, at the expense of the known and expected hero's journey arc that we want to see with a protagonist.

    In previous iterations it's always been implied that Jedi powers take years to hone, but Rey seems to have near immediate and complete command of her force powers from her first confrontation with Kylo in the Force Awakens. Those who delved into the expanded universe at all shouldn't be surprised that an aged Leia would have developed some significant expertise though, so that one is fine other than the goofy optics of the outer space shot.

    I was initially optimistic about Rey's character at the end of TFA, as they had carefully dropped threads earlier in the movie that could have been used to explain an instant unlock of something that should take time to master. In TFA, the First Order specifically takes time to mention how stormtroopers have their memories wiped to ensure compliance, which I figured they could use to account for Rey's rapid advancement as a Jedi (suspected she had previously learned the abilities but had them locked by some form of brainwashing).

    Instead, TLJ backtracks on those threads and creates the new dark-light balance paradigm where any unexpected rise in power for either Kylo or Rey is due to the innate desire of the universe to balance the light side with the dark.

    The rewriting of how the Force works with respect to Rey means that she was robbed of the expected development arc that people had become accustomed to, with no real payoff for having subverted people's expectations.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on How The Last Jedi defies expectations in ~movies

    MADAtron
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    I agree with a lot of what you said in the post above, and specifically in response to the video, I think the creator lumps a lot of the visceral response the movie received into the 'males not...

    I agree with a lot of what you said in the post above, and specifically in response to the video, I think the creator lumps a lot of the visceral response the movie received into the 'males not used to seeing their role models learning from women' category. He does not however take into account a large number of significant plot flaws and continuity criticisms that other people have made.

    The movie sacrifices something in order to make the women stand above the men.

    I find it tough to agree or disagree with this point - having seen movies or long-form tv shows with strong female characters that ALSO have strong plotlines, character development and internal continuity, I have to assume that in the hands of better screenwriters, TLJ could have gotten the points across that it wanted to, while still respecting the core aspects of what people liked about the characters in previous iterations. To me, having the movie's plot or overall quality suffer by including well written female characters would assume that a well-designed script existed first, and then was unintentionally degraded through having to redesign the character arcs and plot points in a way that degraded its overall fidelity within the Star Wars canon.

    4 votes

  7. Comment on Do we really need to add summaries to posted articles? in ~tildes

    MADAtron
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    There's a ton of articles that I would never have read if they weren't posted with a summary that immediately piqued my interest. Even posting a comment with an interpretation of what the article...

    There's a ton of articles that I would never have read if they weren't posted with a summary that immediately piqued my interest. Even posting a comment with an interpretation of what the article contains can be good fuel for discussion, so I don't see why they should be discouraged.

    50 votes

  8. Comment on Monster Hunter World (PC) in ~games

    MADAtron
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    Yep I played a bunch of hours on ps4 but I'm going to sink a bunch of time in again on the PC release with a bunch of friends. It's my first real time playing one of the MH franchise and I enjoy...

    Yep I played a bunch of hours on ps4 but I'm going to sink a bunch of time in again on the PC release with a bunch of friends. It's my first real time playing one of the MH franchise and I enjoy it even after 200+ hours.

    2 votes

  10. Comment on What was the best change you ever made in your life? in ~talk

    MADAtron
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    Not sure it counts as the best change I ever made in my life, but I took up a high intensity sport at age 28 that I had always wanted to. I've had some minor aches and sprains, but I feel great...

    Not sure it counts as the best change I ever made in my life, but I took up a high intensity sport at age 28 that I had always wanted to. I've had some minor aches and sprains, but I feel great every week I play and it's really helped me to have a physical outlet to de-stress.

    3 votes

  11. Comment on Disney sold streaming/broadcast rights for Star Wars movies to Turner in 2016 and may not be able to offer them on its own service until 2024 in ~movies

    MADAtron
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    It might end up being not as big an issue as it could have been. Disney seems to be doing their best to kill the golden goose (the last couple SW movies have not been very well received). Even...

    It might end up being not as big an issue as it could have been. Disney seems to be doing their best to kill the golden goose (the last couple SW movies have not been very well received).

    Even without the cinematic SW movies, Disney still has a massive catalogue of IPs (Marvel, Toy Story, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc) and their (sometimes) excellent animated series including the Clone Wars, Gravity Falls, Tron Uprising, Ducktales, and more.

  12. Comment on How do you pronounce "NES"? Nintendo throws a wrench in the debate in ~games

    MADAtron
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    That sounds like a lot of work. Have you tried joining the cult of Ness and Sness? Monosyllabic!

    That sounds like a lot of work. Have you tried joining the cult of Ness and Sness? Monosyllabic!

    5 votes

  13. Comment on How do you pronounce "NES"? Nintendo throws a wrench in the debate in ~games

    MADAtron
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    I was just thinking to myself that this was a fluffy enough piece to relax a bit after today's comment storms.

    I was just thinking to myself that this was a fluffy enough piece to relax a bit after today's comment storms.

    7 votes

  14. Comment on How do you pronounce "NES"? Nintendo throws a wrench in the debate in ~games

    MADAtron
    Link Parent
    I don't think it's a coincidence that in the NES game 'Mother' that was released in 1989, that the main character's name was 'Ninten', followed by Mother 2 / Earthbound in 1994 where the...

    I don't think it's a coincidence that in the NES game 'Mother' that was released in 1989, that the main character's name was 'Ninten', followed by Mother 2 / Earthbound in 1994 where the protagonist is named 'Ness'.

    And also Sness is way more fun to say than Super N-E-S.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on How do you pronounce "NES"? Nintendo throws a wrench in the debate in ~games

    MADAtron
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    I had no idea there was even a pronunciation debate going on between those who said 'Ness' vs 'N-E-S'. Glad to see Nintendo weigh in on the divide, even though the N-E-S folks were so clearly,...

    I had no idea there was even a pronunciation debate going on between those who said 'Ness' vs 'N-E-S'. Glad to see Nintendo weigh in on the divide, even though the N-E-S folks were so clearly, horrendously incorrect.

    4 votes

  16. Comment on I think we need more conservative voices to balance out the intense liberalism of tildes in ~tildes

    MADAtron
    Link Parent
    Also, while there's a serious contingent of Americans already on Tildes, keep in mind that the political situation is vastly different outside their borders, where conservatives in many European...

    Also, while there's a serious contingent of Americans already on Tildes, keep in mind that the political situation is vastly different outside their borders, where conservatives in many European countries, Canada, Australia, and the rest of the world don't carry (or deserve) the negative connotations that the Republican party in the US is associated with. It's important not to conflate small 'c' conservatives around the globe with what's currently going on in the United States.

    19 votes

  17. Comment on Does anybody else find themselves lurking a lot more on Tildes? in ~tildes

    MADAtron
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    Yeah, there's definitely a lot more reading going on when I browse Tildes, which means I'm not commenting as much usually. That, and there's a lot of people that seem to think the way I think on...

    Yeah, there's definitely a lot more reading going on when I browse Tildes, which means I'm not commenting as much usually. That, and there's a lot of people that seem to think the way I think on here as well, so plenty of times someone's already written a comment that says the same thing I would have said. That, plus I think it's partly the nature of the content that's being submitted too, plenty of long reads and things that require some homework before making a comment on them.

    14 votes

  18. Comment on Your own user page now has paginated Topics and Comments views - let's talk about user history visibility in ~tildes.official

    MADAtron
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    I think it'd be a nice feature to be able to select a predetermined length of time that comments are publicly visible to other regular users, maybe "Comment history visibility: 1 day / 1 week / 1...

    I think it'd be a nice feature to be able to select a predetermined length of time that comments are publicly visible to other regular users, maybe "Comment history visibility: 1 day / 1 week / 1 month / forever". That gives individual users a fair bit of control over how much of their history can be seen by other casual users.

    3 votes

  19. Comment on What is synthwave and its related subgenres? in ~music

    MADAtron
    Link Parent
    Ahh yeah! I had almost forgotten about them, I listened to Gunship (2015) when it first came out and enjoyed it for a bit (even if the vocals got a little bit samey-sounding after a few tracks)....

    Ahh yeah! I had almost forgotten about them, I listened to Gunship (2015) when it first came out and enjoyed it for a bit (even if the vocals got a little bit samey-sounding after a few tracks). Looking at Google Play it seems there are a few single releases they have had recently that I can check out. Thanks for the reminder!

    3 votes

  20. Comment on I think we need more conservative voices to balance out the intense liberalism of tildes in ~tildes

    MADAtron
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    I 100% agree, Republicans and small c conservatives that voted for Trump in the presidential election are by definition complicit with the current administration's policies, which again brings up...

    I 100% agree, Republicans and small c conservatives that voted for Trump in the presidential election are by definition complicit with the current administration's policies, which again brings up the ever-relevant Letter from Birmingham Jail, in which MLK argues that moderates who tacitly accept an unjust system stand in the way of justice as much as those who openly and actively work against it. However in the moderates who tacitly accept unjust systems, unlike those who actively support them, you also have the opportunity to explore the root of their inaction and potentially change their mind. I'd argue that it's easier to have a discussion with a political moderate and convince them to change their view, rather than trying to argue with someone whose heart and mind are already devoted to making things worse for others.

    10 votes