Don Gato posted:

Also if you've never read them, his Mr. A stories are something else. A better intro to Objectivism and why Objectivism is batshit insane than slogging through any of Ayn Rand's works.

rydiafan posted:

Reminds me of this: https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/false-equivalence

hard counter posted:

while i completely understand the point that comic's making, what's going on beneath the surface is probably subtler than pure form because afaik modern scholars talk much more about exaggerated superhero physiques representing a kind of supernormal sexual stimuli than they do about superhero bodies, specifically male superheroes bodies, just being built for mere power fantasy or w/e - essentially, this means all these bodies are caricatures of what we find attractive with the catch that in some cases the caricature may become so extreme, so hyper masculine or so hyper feminine, they could become unappealing to some, but not all, people

batman, for e.g., consistently comes out as either the #1 or #2 superhero that women find attractive with his physique - along with his, i dunno, broodiness? - apparently being the chief selling points (spiderman's the other caped chad, valued for his humour and his sexy bod)

don't read this the wrong way, this doesn't mean there's any kind of equality in comics, or that this medium or similar mediums don't go on to sexualize women even more than the men in utterly distasteful ways by coupling their already exaggerated physiques with provocative poses, costumes or situations they would never put a male in - not to mention differences in the variety of body representation, less attractive male bodies on supporting characters are much more common than less attractive female bodies on supporting characters - all this just means we're looking at the underlying mechanics & psychology in more detail than previously

Groke posted:

drat near anything is better than slogging through Ayn Rand. Having actually read the whole of Atlas Shrugged, I am qualified to say that.

(Did that at a young and impressionable age, and learned a valuable lesson: that starting a book does not obligate one to finish it. I did finish that one, but the lesson has saved me many hours over the years since then.)

Don Gato posted:

I got as far as the John Galt speech in Atlas shrugged, and after he had been talking for a page i kept skipping forward to see when the plot would start again and no, it just kept loving going. That's when I dropped that book and never bothered reading another Ayn Rand book.

rydiafan posted:

Reminds me of this: https://www.shortpacked.com/comic/false-equivalence

Plethora posted:

That comic is stupid because it's just describing Jojo, which is universally known to be cool and good. The girl character is an idiot.

PhazonLink posted:

reminder that the Atlas Shrug movie had an iron tight contract that they needed to re create DA SPEECH.

also it needed to get Crowdfunding because part 1 bombed.

the_steve posted:

Isn't that comic basically just "Male characters can't be sex fantasies because I'm not attracted to this particular type, only female characters can ever be objectified by creepers" ?

Plethora posted:

That comic is stupid because it's just describing Jojo, which is universally known to be cool and good. The girl character is an idiot.

DACK FAYDEN posted:

in fairness, splitting it into three parts just to put the speech in part 3 was a loving genius move because it's what, two hours?

Len posted:

I did once pull out https://www.galtse.cx in an rpg when my roll to put someone to sleep worked real well. "Len, tell me. How do you this tree full of birds asleep"

The dm had to compose himself because that wasn't what he was expecting

DontMockMySmock posted:

Groke posted:

drat near anything is better than slogging through Ayn Rand. Having actually read the whole of Atlas Shrugged, I am qualified to say that.

(Did that at a young and impressionable age, and learned a valuable lesson: that starting a book does not obligate one to finish it. I did finish that one, but the lesson has saved me many hours over the years since then.)

Mooseontheloose posted:

My brother sent me her book on how to write when i was young, I read about 50 pages and then told him, this writer is so full of themselves and I have found nothing useful from her telling me how to write.

Sounds like I did a good job avoiding reading anything she has written.

pseudosavior posted:

The Fountainhead was the first book i read that i decided i didn't want to finish. Turned me off of Rand and Objectivism but it DID get me into architecture, so i count it as a win overall.

Eventually, i turned it into a book safe. Nothing of value was damaged.

Plethora posted:

Speaking of media that didn't age well, a film expecting us to feel sympathetic to a man who rapes and impregnates his own daughter as a subplot to teach the main character (who bangs his best friend's wife with no repercussions or judgement) a 'very important lesson' didn't age all that great.

Blood Nightmaster posted:

In addition to this good post I want to link to the Escher Girls blog, which repeatedly points out the issue of the male gaze specifically re: illustrated works.

Krispy Wafer posted:

Was that the plot? I remember orphans, Caine's princes of New England nightly affirmation, and then Caine ODing on the vapors. Literally nothing else.

Samovar posted:

I've stopped reading many books in my time, but Atlas Shrugged is one of the few books I remember stopping reading in disgust.

The other being Naked Lunch.

Elissimpark posted:

What was the issue with Naked Lunch?

Ghost Leviathan posted:

There's two things wrong with the title.

Elissimpark posted:

What was the issue with Naked Lunch?

Samovar posted:

The orgy with the person being hanged while a person was loving them on the gallows kind of left a bad taste in my mouth.