Overthinkingit.com has a couple of articles on 'The Philosophy of Batman' that I thought were kind of interesting. Not fantastic or anything but definitely enjoyable reads. The first one breaks down the two dilemmas faced by our hero in the first and second movies: the trolley experiment and Prisoner's Dilemma, respectively. (Random side note: I had to do a ton of work with Prisoner's Dilemma as an Anthro major. A lot. In a nutshell, the best course of action is to confess.) The second article deals more with the psychology behind the back story put forth in Batman Begins. This article is not a quick read - 6 pages - and I confess I haven't read the entire thing yet. But the first page looks promising! ;o)
After reading blog comments under the announcement of the Jolie-Pitt Twins yesterday, I witnessed first hand the raving insanity of the frothing Brangeloonies. Similar to the Claymates in their blind devotion and ceaseless worship of famous people they don't even know, the Brangeloonies were out in full force yesterday practically declaring the birth of The Twins a national holiday and labeling anyone who dared to disagree as "haters" or "trolls". How very pre-school! A commenter might write something as innocent as "what's the big deal, so lots of babies were born that day" and within minutes a stomping crowd of torch bearing witch-hunters are at his throat. I found it perplexing, yet highly comical. Another curious trait of the Brangeloonie is the nearly unanimous vitriol aimed at Jennifer Aniston. Brad and Jen divorced 3 years ago, but in the snarling eyes of the Brangeloonie, somehow she's still an unwilling player. I collected some of the goodies from various blogs to share with you. And no, I did not make any of these up - they're all 100% real:
"I only want to celebrate and sing her praises. I have been down on my knees all morning, where I know she would want me to be, blessing this holy family. god bless the jolie-pitts!"
"OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG—– My life now has meaning. You guys, today is totally my birthday…. and my mom’s name is Vivian! (I know darling Vivienne is spelled differently, but still)This is the first thing I’ve been able to share with the blessed Jolie-Pitts. I am over the moon."
"The trolls are really losing it, they are dying of envy. I won’t even give a second of my time reading or posting about a person I don’t like. That’s the power of Angelina, they can’t get away from her."
"This is such exciting news and the lovely posts are a pleasure to read from you JP fans. Makes it easy to bypass the unhappy jealous hateful people who cant help but show their ugliness at such a blessed time. Nothing can take away our joy today."
"I’m really getting tired of being hated on just because I want people to be happy. Babies are a gift from God, especially from people as wonderful as Brad and Angie. All you Aniston (yuck) lovers out there are just jealous that he’s happy and successful now. I think she needs to adopt an Indian baby next or something even more exotic to add to the beauty that is their family. Maybe one from Romania?"
"I still think we should find a way to let Brangelina know that there are people out here who love them and want to wish them all the best… I wanna write a poem like some other people did but I’m not that smart. "
"By the crazy reaction from the haters, we know Jen Aniston is miserable and in pain right now. hehehe. Brad got really emotional as he cut the ambilical cords, awww. I couldn’t even imagine how thrilled they both are."
"This should be a day of celebration, yet everyone is just so MEAN. Why can’t the twins and the rest of the Jolie-Pitts have at least ONE nice day without so many people trying to ruin it? She just had TWINS for crying out loud. Angelina is such a beautiful matyr; I wish I could be more like her. Sure, she’s kinda shunning America, but I still luv, luv, LUV her!!! Anyone else want to start a petition to wish them the best luck in the world?"
The Brangeloonie Shrine is available exclusively at Babies R Us and Wal-Mart, but hurry, supplies are limited and rioting has already begun.
2 comments:
You did a ton of work on the prisoners' dilemma as an anthro major? Really? Please elaborate. I'm interested to hear how anthropology uses game theory. (And I always thought anthropologists snickered at economists for being so analytical.)
Also, I enjoyed your post on the Rock Band party you guys had. I wish I could have been there. I've played Guitar Hero once, so I don't think I would have been very impressive. Though just maybe I could beat Biji at singing... Maybe.
No, no, no - no snickering at all. In fact, we used to do stuff with Nash equilibrium, too. We applied the prisoner's dilemma to studies of cooperation - like, if it would be more worthwhile for a particular animal to hunt alone or with a partner/group. It was pretty interesting, I think. (In fact, if you search on "prisoner's dilemma, anthropology," one of the first few results is a paper by one of my former professors. Exciting, no?!)
And I have absolutely no doubt that you could beat Biji in singing. I've never heard you... but I don't need to. :o) He was a good sport, though, so I can't be too hard on him, I guess.
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