Originally posted by cdtm
What was Captain America's flaw, though? He's essentially perfect in every way.Is he simply the exception that proves the rule? Like Superman, whom conflict exists as an external threat to everyone around him, since he can never he touched either physically or ethically/morally?
Well there are other reasons why he is a good character that actually works.
1. Because he has actual character conflict that's real, deep, and believable. Having to grapple with waking up in the future where everyone he knows is dead or old as shit essentially losing his chance at the life he wanted. Waking up in a world that no longer respected his ideals, as Winter Soldier showed with Shield and it's more authoritarian and secretive ways and his discomfort at the beginning of the movie with him still being a part of shield, to the United Nations wanting to control him and the other Avengers, shifting him from a hero of the state to an enemy of the state and an outlaw. Having to fight his brainwashed best friend in Winter Soldier. Having to face off against the other Avengers in Civil War, genuinely good people and friends he was driving into conflict over due to a profound philosophical disagreement. Even if he is near spotless in terms of moral character, the universe places him in tough moral dilemmas and situations where his actions actually bear serious consequences, and where he actually has to question who he is and what he should do.
Also a similar character to some extent is DCEU's Wonder Woman, she's not presented as a morally flawed character in her movie, but she is presented arriving in a world that doesn't share her moral values, and having to be confronted and faced with the fact that evil is intrinsic to individuals and have to question what makes them worth saving despite this.
With Rey however, her main internal conflict is not having her parents, which just wasn't executed well enough to actually be a compelling internal conflict. And with Captain Marvel, her character arc is her realizing she's great and everyone else is an *******.
2. Because he is actually effectively portrayed as such. Vision is the other example of this, the surrounding universe treats both of them as near morally flawless, and it largely works because of their characteristic humility, and demonstrated willingness to sacrifice themselves on behalf of others. There's actually a very strong and effective portrayal of character.
By contrast you have Captain Marvel, who the surrounding universe treats as morally perfect despite her obvious and implicit flaws. She acts very cocky towards other people, and is implied to have a problem controlling her emotions, and yes, these traits aren't unique to her. Thor was cocky and arrogant in his first movie, Tony can be rather arrogant and cocky, Doctor Strange was much the same way in his first movie, Peter Quill has problems with controlling his emotions etc. The difference is the surrounding universe actually treats these as character flaws with those characters, it has them called out by other characters, and it has these flaws actually generate consequences for them. When the universe tries to create this visage of a flawless character around Captain Marvel, it's not something you buy because she isn't effectively portrayed as such.
3. Because he is portrayed as someone actually worthy of his power. Even with no power, with a great deal of physical weakness set against him he was determined to do what he could, and before gaining the power he demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice himself for others by jumping on the fake grenade. Or you could have it be something earned by the person through convincing training (like Luke's entire thing in ESB). By contrast you can also do the opposite and portray a protagonist as morally flawed with power and integrate that into the story as its own dynamic, like with Anakin in the prequel trilogy, or Thor at the beginning of his first movie, or Luke in Empire Strikes Back, and have them either truly earn it or fall because of its temptations respectively.
By contrast, take someone like Rey. She's quite OP given the context all things considered, however she's not effectively presented as a person who has earned that power by training or deserves that power via powerful displays of moral virtue, and she's also not presented as a character allured by or abusing that power due to moral flaw, so there's not really a good thematic dynamic or context in the story to justify her strength from a storytelling standpoint. This is really more of a problem in TFA than TLJ though, as TLJ actually shows her competence have her limits at certain points (her derping in her training with Luke a few times, and being completely mistaken about her ability to turn Kylo).
4. They don't bend the rest of the universe to shit on other characters for the sake of uplifting Captain America. He gets into arguments and banter with other characters, yet even when he's portrayed as right the other characters still get their effective licks in and hang with him in the banter, or make compelling points of their own, or have their own reasons that don't undermine the audience's respect for them. Same with Luke, though he proves Yoda and Obi-Wan wrong by managing to redeem Vader, and thus proving the point of Yoda's statement that he is what Luke grows beyond, the universe treats Yoda and Obi-Wan respectfully as characters rather than undermining them to make Luke look good. By contrast, Rey is presented as someone who grows beyond Luke, not for any deep reason, but because they regressed Luke's character so Rey could have the exact same revelation Luke's younger self had and look better than him in a way that didn't feel earned, or when they present her as knowing more about how to fix the Millennium Falcon than Han Solo. Or Captain Marvel in Endgame where they write any banter with her as extremely onesided, where she wins in 5 seconds and makes the other character look retarded just so she can look cooler.
tldr: Captain America is given actual sincere inner conflict, stakes, and consequences for his actions despite his near flawless moral character. He's actually effectively portrayed as a morally upstanding character rather than being narratively presented as such without the execution to earn it. He's presented as someone who has earned or is worthy of his power (ie. him being that strong has a very effective narrative reason). And Captain America is uplifted with good writing rather than the denigration of other characters.
Captain America isn't a Mary Sue because he's effectively portrayed as someone who deserves his strength, someone with genuine conflict, and because the universe itself doesn't simply bend to whatever whim favors him as it does with other characters.
Good news! Colin Kaepernicks workout has lead to an NFL signing!
https://www.theblaze.com/news/kaepernick-tryout-results-in-job-for-his-receiver
Congrats to his receiver for being signed!
Uber reporter over 3,000 sexual assaults.
This seems... unlikely.
I mean, there are better and easier ways to assault someone then getting a job as an uber driver. What are the stats on everyday cab drivers or bus drivers assaulting people? How about car pools?
What if this is all part of a smear campaign? It would be easy enough to enact, anyone can become an Uber driver. So you set up a bunch of fronts, and you file false assault reports, to make Uber look bad.
Originally posted by cdtm
Uber reporter over 3,000 sexual assaults.This seems... unlikely.
I mean, there are better and easier ways to assault someone then getting a job as an uber driver. What are the stats on everyday cab drivers or bus drivers assaulting people? How about car pools?
What if this is all part of a smear campaign? It would be easy enough to enact, anyone can become an Uber driver. So you set up a bunch of fronts, and you file false assault reports, to make Uber look bad.
What, are u saying 3,000 different uber drivers have been accused of sexual assault?
Originally posted by Surtur
What, are u saying 3,000 different uber drivers have been accused of sexual assault?
Over 3,000 sexual assaults, period. Not all from drivers, they happen from customers too. There is one lawsuit that sprang from it, so I'm sure they do happen, but so many?
It wouldn't be surprising at all if the Cab industry was trying to break the Uber industry in all manner of ways, with staging assaults being just one of them.
Originally posted by cdtm
Over 3,000 sexual assaults, period. Not all from drivers, they happen from customers too. There is one lawsuit that sprang from it, so I'm sure they do happen, but so many?It wouldn't be surprising at all if the Cab industry was trying to break the Uber industry in all manner of ways, with staging assaults being just one of them.
Over how long a span of time?
Originally posted by Emperordmb
Disappointed my lengthy post on Captain Murica flew over the radarle sigh
I skipped it because it didn't interest me even a little bit and it was far too long for me to want to ready it. If it was a topic I wanted to discuss, I would have read it.
Has nothing to do with you. I might be more inclined to read a topic I'm not much interested in if you posted about it. It just so happens to be a topic that I really really don't want to spend that much time reading and thinking about.
Want to bet those Saudi students who attacked a military base won't even get a slap on the wrist?
It depends on whether Saudi leadership wants to make examples out of them, but I'm fairly certain the US bends the knee to those who control our oil supply, just like US businesses bend the knee to China.
Originally posted by cdtm
Want to bet those Saudi students who attacked a military base won't even get a slap on the wrist?It depends on whether Saudi leadership wants to make examples out of them, but I'm fairly certain the US bends the knee to those who control our oil supply, just like US businesses bend the knee to China.
I thought there was just the one, now there is more?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/health-care-goodfellas-mafia-turns-to-medicare-fraud/
When people talk about a "health insurance mafia", that isn't supposed to be taken literally.
And finally, a 90's story from the Post:
SectionsDemocracy Dies in Darkness
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'MEDICAL MAFIA' MAKES $80 BILLION KILLING
By JACK ANDERSON and
MICHAEL BINSTEIN February 17, 1993
It's unlikely that Hollywood will ever make a movie romanticizing the exploits of health care fraud artists, yet there is growing evidence that a "medical mafia" of sorts has sprung up across the country, engaging the FBI in one of its most urgent law enforcement challenges.No one "family" or "godfather" directs the medical mafia. Yet it is adding millions of dollars to the health care burden already breaking the backs of American families. One government estimate shows that fraud and abuse add some 10 percent to U.S. health care costs, which approach $1 trillion a year.
If accurate, that number suggests health care fraud is shaping up as the savings and loan scandal of the 1990s.
FBI officials say such abuses include fraudulent billing schemes by medical equipment suppliers; nursing home scams; hospital billing frauds; psychiatric hospital and diet-clinic rip-offs; and "rolling lab" swindles that prey on the elderly and loot Medicare as well as private insurance.
The FBI has redeployed 150 agents nationwide on health care cases, while the Justice Department has assigned 10 new positions to the job and formed a health care unit within its criminal division. But despite evidence of widespread white-collar looting, prosecutors have not gone after cases they regard as promising mere pocket change. Many prosecutors apparently only accept criminal health care cases that involve $100,000 or more, because the workload from the savings and loan scandal and drug cases has so taxed resources.
Here are some of the scams contributing to the $80 billion-a-year health care crime wave:
Rolling Labs. According to the FBI, the vulnerability of the health care system to fraud is most vividly illustrated by California schemes that have involved more than $1 billion in fraudulent billing from as many as 200 physicians and other providers. The schemes revolved around getting people with health insurance to visit mobile labs, called "rolling labs," where non-invasive tests -- such as health and blood pressure movements -- were conducted. The labs and doctors use phony diagnoses when submitting the insurance claims. Although some of the owners of these labs have been successfully prosecuted, no money has yet been recovered. Some six similar schemes are still known to be operating in Southern California.
Durable Medical Equipment (DME) fraud and kickbacks. DME firms pay kickbacks to health care providers, including doctors, nursing homes and hospitals in return for obtaining supply contracts. Medicare and private insurance firms are easy prey. These unscrupulous businessmen also employ telemarketing scams, and fraudulently bill unnecessary DME supplies and services.
Diet Clinics. Patients are solicited through promises of weight loss at normal expense. Sometimes patients are even provided free airfare to country club facilities, which can include chauffeured limousine service to the hospital. (Investigators commonly discover taxi and shuttle-bus services billed as ambulance services to insurance companies.) Patients are required, however, to submit to psychological exams, a series of blood tests, and X-rays, which are billed to insurers under the false pretense of a fabricated psychological malady. Under the guise of "group therapy," trips are taken to shopping malls and amusement parks and then billed as treatment for mental illness to private insurance carriers.
Psychiatric Hospitals. With a rising tide of insurance claims and government benefits involving substance abuse, alcoholism and depression, this has become a gold mine for fraud. Patients who would be better served by out-patient treatment are steered into in-patient hospitalization. Other patients have been forcibly admitted into psychiatric treatment programs even though they pose no threat to the community or themselves. They are subjected to a battery of blood tests, X-rays, shock treatment, and something called "wave therapy." Though relatively painless, it is very expensive. The doctor, with a single wave of his or her hand during a routine exam, submits bills to government programs and insurance companies for $125 in individual therapy.
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My question, is if this was happening in the 90's, how does it look now?
And where does it end?
If they're making billions off of medical equipment fraud, what about prescription drugs? Are they mixed up in Planned Parenthood, too? Lot of money in stem cells, and regulations against abusing aborted material would probably be child's play to sidestep, considering they're pros at flouting building codes and such.
Portland could start forcing apartment owners to 'make room' for homeless campers 'whether they like it or not'
https://www.theblaze.com/news/portland_homeless_law_force_new_buildings
The left ruins everything it touches.
Originally posted by Surtur
Portland could start forcing apartment owners to 'make room' for homeless campers 'whether they like it or not'https://www.theblaze.com/news/portland_homeless_law_force_new_buildings
The left ruins everything it touches.
Took me all of about 5 seconds to find out this was bullshit.
Welp, if you guys don't see me around for a while, probably at least partly due to this:
https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/eskom-stage-6-load-shedding-announced/
And this comes after our dipshit president spent the last few months going about all over the world and doing the proverbial, "Everything is fine here. Move along. Nothing to see here."
And I am posting this here because I am triggered by this. Because, despite their excuses, this is a long-term issue that is largely due to corruption and mismanagement and I have lost 5 working hours today alone because of this crap. So, anyway, farewell. I am off to find some candles.