BP Movie Journal 4/5/18
In this episode, Tyler and David discuss the movies and TV shows they’ve been watching, including:
Movies
WILLARD
THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS
BEN
READY PLAYER ONE
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
THREE SISTERS
A TRIP TO THE MOON
TV
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
COMMUNITY
SILICON VALLEY
I don’t love Ready Player One, but I feel the need to defend the film’s use of The Iron Giant. In the context of the film, The Giant is never used as a real weapon. No one actually gets hurt or killed by his hand. He only exists in virtual reality, and on top of that his purpose is pure (keeping a ruthless corporation from overtaking the world’s most important economic resource). It isn’t the same as if someone portrayed him as a weapon in the real world. It’s fine. Also I would bet money that Brad Bird signed off on it, though I can’t confirm that.
Anyway, the movie is just okay, with some really good sequences because Spielberg is Spielberg.
The Iron Giant as portrayed in the movie was just a shell being moved around by a real person. It would be like saying that if you cosplay as someone at Comic-Con, you’re ethically obligated to never do anything the character wouldn’t do. That seems pretty silly. And of course, the “Iron Giant” in the movie didn’t actually hurt any real person, anyway.
As for checks and balances on the Supreme Court, presumably the check is that if SCOTUS rules a law unconstitutional, then the legislature can change the constitution. Of course, that’s obviously very difficult, but not impossible.