Please Don't Kill Me! But...

[crayauchtin]

Please don't kill me, but I don't really think Johnny Depp is a particularly talented actor.

Don't get me wrong -- he's great.... y'know. As long as he's playing someone crazy, where he's permitted to make wild choices and be totally over-the-top.
But I have not ever seen him play someone who I thought was a real person and not a charicature (the closest to a believable person was Jack Sparrow, but let's face it.... even then, he's really more a charicature than a character!) An actor should be able to portray a person -- I mean, that's the whole idea of what we do.
And yet, Johnny Depp can only be crazy.
(To be fair to him, though, it's not like I've seen every single thing he's done.)

Also, don't kill me, but I get furiously jealous when I see people who are famous for things that I think I'm better at.

[Deloria]

Huh, I would not have expected that one from you, Deloria!

I mean, yes, it's a modern fairytale and they clearly love each other very much or else they wouldn't have been together for so long, but I don't feel the need to live vicariously through them or follow their every move or even to watch the royal wedding because I find marriage silly. I find displays of nationalism or fealty glorious and touching, and that's what I would be into if a royal couple could evoke it, but they don't seem capable of it or the kind of people who would do it if they were capable.

Oh, and I don't see why people are so enchanted with the royal couple, either.

[snabbott]

Huh, I would not have expected that one from you, Deloria!

I find marriage silly. I find displays of nationalism or fealty glorious and touching

Interesting... I'm quite the opposite. Marriage is very important to me (which is good since I'm married ), but I find displays of nationalism silly. I don't get the concept of being loyal to something just because it's where you happen to live (e.g. countries, sports teams). Don't get me wrong - I'm glad to be an American, and I appreciate the sacrifices people have made for our freedoms, but I think I could be happy in any number of other places, too. Also, it's not like I can claim any credit for the way the country is. (Yes, there's voting, but my individual contribution is negligible.)

Re: Johnny Depp - I haven't ever seen him play a normal person, either. He does "crazy" really well, though. It may not be great acting, but he's quite entertaining.

(note: I accidentally edited cray's post with that last bit, in case anyone was wondering why it's listed as last edited by me. )

[KatieHal]

Interesting. Myself, I find marriage important and nationalism as well, but both can get overdone I suppose. I'm not married, or engaged, though I hope to be both of those things at some point, and having seen friends of mine who I know love each other so much get married, I find it very touching and I like the idea of celebrating that with friends and family.

Nationalism in the US can very easily get overdone and irritating, I think. I feel like a lot of people abuse the notion of nationalism, use it as an excuse or even a misguided reason to do something, or throw it at other people for a reason why that person is WRONG. When really, they just want to get self-righteous about being disagreed with, which is childish.

The president's speech in Independence Day, however, gets me every time.

[Haids1987]

(Team NSYNC all the way!)

Ohhhh, you're one of those. I don't think we can be friends anymore, Kristen!

[Deloria]

Actually, I don't think nationalism is done well anymore either. But as an abstract concept or when reading nationalistic sources from the 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly when everyone is united against a common enemy, I find it the most glorious thing in the world.

I think the only reason I might*want to* marry someone would be if I were to get things that would otherwise be more difficult, like citizenship to a different country. I've been to several weddings and have usually left feeling somewhat disgusted.

[DawsonJ]

I'm never getting married because I would be an awful husband.  Add to that the fact that my own ranting later embarrasses me on occasion, as it is.    (I'm glad that the Internet allows me to be anonymous.)

I'm with Deloria on the feelings of an observer at a wedding.  I've only been to three weddings in my lifetime (of those, one was my choice) because I don't find them to be a desirable experience.  The worst are the extremely expensive weddings that are all about the bride (Bridezillas, anyone?), AND usually force the couple to start their married life in debt.  How stupid is that!  Thousands of dollars of debt just to get married?  (With a 50% marriage failure rate in the U.S.... really? ) What in the world are they thinking?

*Justice of the Peace*
That is all.

[Deloria]

None of this is to say that I don't want commitment though. I just really hate weddings, particularly when the beliefs of the bride and groom aren't necessarily my own and I wind up feeling very uncomfortable and out of place. I like the idea of having a 1860s-style relationship and of being a mistress rather than a wife. Some kind of commitment ceremony might be fun though.

[darthkiwi]

Marriage does seem silly, especially when you spend money that could go towards a big chunk of your future house on a single day.

That said, some kind of public announcement/commitment is a good thing.

[LadyTerra]

Marriage itself isn't important to me, though if I do, and I might for tax and legal reasons, I'd rather just elope.  Probably in Vegas... during the Adobe conference... (God, I'm a dork)

[writerlove]

I'm with Cray. Never been a huge Johnny Depp fan. He seems one dimensional, which is the the crazy and offbeat stuff. He seems happy doing those types of roles and that's fine. Still, it's not my cup of tea.

I'm not one of those girls who plans every single detail of her wedding. I do want to marry one day but I'll figure all that stuff when the time comes. I don't want anything obnoxiously big, though.

Hailey, they are my personal preference. I like Backstreet too but they don't do what NSYNC does. Better singers (Have you heard them a cappella? I got an arsenal of videos to back up this claim). Better dancers and I just love their friendship with each other. They genuinely loved what they did. And that's the readers digest of why I love them. (Okay, ending the 12 year old teenybopper now  )

[crayauchtin]

Please don't kill me for going all political here, I really can not help myself when the issue of marriage comes up. It's a problem.

Not to completely disagree with you guys, but I think you're getting confused between a "marriage" and a "wedding".

The wedding can be huge an expensive and extravagant and silly. (Doesn't have to be, but it often is.) But it's also pretty frequently a drive-through in Vegas, or a couple people signing a paper in front of a friend or two at a courthouse. The wedding is basically whatever you and whoever you're marrying decide you want it to be.

The marriage legally connects you and your partner, giving both of you 1,138 Federal right and provisions. And a lot of those are kind of a big deal -- and I don't just mean financially.

I won't list them all. Here's a Wikipedia article that lists a lot of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_and_responsibilities_of_marriages_in_the_United_States

[Deloria]

I'm not American. My boyfriend is not American. I have no intention of ever living in the US. Therefore, the rights that you get in the US frankly don't matter to me. At all.

Weddings make me uncomfortable. Marriage seems trivial and more of a formality that I have no interest in participating in.

[darthkiwi]

It's great that if you're married you get these benefits, but it seems more like a way of telling the government that you're a couple than anything else. Whether you're married or not shouldn't affect your relationship; to me it seems like a formality which has certain civil benefits. The most important things about a relationship are, to me, that you like the person and want to be with them, which is irrelevant to marriage.

[GrahamRocks!]

Awww! That's so sweet, I'm glad someone understands that.

[KatieHal]

Well, it makes sense that the government needs SOME way to officially recognize married couples, given the various rights and so forth that are involved.

I will say that the religious ceremony weddings I've been to have always felt lacking to me. Those have specifically all been Catholic Church weddings, in my case. The priests' homilies have been just awful, every time. Seriously. One talked about how the couple should get marriage counseling to avoid divorce. At their wedding! Another told a horrendous story about a man who was going to be executed at the evening bell for treason, so his wife tied herself to the inside of the bell so it wouldn't ring. His superior decided, okay, no one dies tonight. Um, that still means this guy is guilty of treason, and is going to die, and now his wife is bloodied and beaten from this bell to boot! This is not a story for a wedding! They all just so clearly didn't know the couple at all, or, apparently, what might be appropriate for a wedding.

On the other hand, a number of my friends have taken to having a close friend perform the ceremony (by applying for a license to marry a specific couple on a specific day), and those have been lovely. The officiant knows the couple, knows their story, the ceremony is designed by the couple as well as the vows, and it's wonderful because it's so personal to that couple and the people there know that.

Honestly, whenever I get married, that's what I'd like to do. It just feels far more meaningful a ceremony that way.

[crayauchtin]

I'm not American. My boyfriend is not American. I have no intention of ever living in the US. Therefore, the rights that you get in the US frankly don't matter to me. At all.

Weddings make me uncomfortable. Marriage seems trivial and more of a formality that I have no interest in participating in.

While, yes, I was specifically referring to US laws the fact is that governments worldwide use marriage as an official way to recognize a couple, the formation of a household or kinship (through means other than blood) and, as far as I know, all governments grant special privileges to married couples.

Might want to look into what those are in your country before you call it trivial.

[Deloria]

Please don't kill me, but I think Pride and Prejudice is overhyped and has been overdone to death.

[GrahamRocks!]

Please don't kill me, but... I happen to like The Inheritance Cycle. A lot! To me, it's a good fantasy romp, and, although it might be rife with tropes (yes, I'm a Troper and proud!) and/or cliches I really don't care and love it anyway!

I also don't really like Infamous Adventures' version of KQ3. *winces* Sorry Blackthorne, sorry MusicallyInspired. That's probably my fault, because I saw/played the AGDI remake first and when I saw IA' take on it... it wasn't as impressive.

The graphics aren't very detailed, the voice acting is terrible (ESPECIALLY Manannan! He's supposed to sound threatening and sinister, yet he sounds flat here.) and it doesn't seem to really add anything all that new. Atleast AGD added the whole subplot of The Father (which interests me a bunch! Thrice now I curse...) and put in a bunch of in-jokes, foreshadowing and funny puns. I didn't see anything in IA' version.

Again, I'm so sorry Blackthorne and MusicallyInspired. *hangs her head in shame* You probably hate me now...

On the plus side, you've gotten better over the years, especially with Space Quest 2 and that was pretty darn good!

Also, I don't see what the hype about Justin Beiber is. He's not all that great of a singer, yet girls flock to him like the ice cream man in summer. Maybe it's because, even when I was a kid, I was never all that much into boy singers and boy bands (NSYNC, Aaron Carter) and didn't buy more than one or two of their cds.

Then again, maybe he's gotten better now. According to a music critic in the Houston chronicle, he has.

[crayauchtin]

Please don't kill me, but... I happen to like The Inheritance Cycle. A lot! To me, it's a good fantasy romp, and, although it might be rife with tropes (yes, I'm a Troper and proud!) and/or cliches I really don't care and love it anyway!

I'm with you on this.

The graphics aren't very detailed, the voice acting is terrible (ESPECIALLY Manannan! He's supposed to sound threatening and sinister, yet he sounds flat here.) and it doesn't seem to really add anything all that new. Atleast AGD added the whole subplot of The Father (which interests me a bunch! Thrice now I curse...) and put in a bunch of in-jokes, foreshadowing and funny puns. I didn't see anything in IA' version.

Please don't kill me, but I much preferred IA's remake over AGDI's reinterpretation. (And let's not get confused -- I love the AGDI games but they did not remake KQ2 or KQ3, they reinterpreted them.)
I love the storyline of the Father, but KQ3 is the first King's Quest that had a solid, complex-enough storyline. It didn't need to have more story thrust into it, and when they did it felt.... really really extraneous.

Besides, the curse in KQ2+ is set up (purposefully!) so that they didn't need to bring the Father into the other games in the series. There's forum posts from the AGDI team on their own forums explicitly saying as much. So then they went ahead and put the Father in another game in the series where he's totally unnecessary?

[spoiler]And the whole thing with the Item -- just from a writing/storytelling point of view -- first of all, there's like no explanation of what it is or how it got there. Which is fine because the main character in that game has no freaking idea what it is or why it's important or anything at all about it, so why would he care? But they made it SUCH an important thing that having someone who doesn't care as much as the player find it was a ridiculously bad choice in storytelling. Because now we can't ever get those answers and it's kind of a vital piece of the story.

Then there's the whole.... introducing a story arc to tie the whole series together.... and then basically resolving it in the next episode of the series. Like, the Father is after Graham and his family so he can get the Crown so he can get the Item. Got it, makes sense, totally can drive the curse and the rest of the story arc.
Then in the next episode, we find the Item, we break the Item, and then the Father finds the pieces and seems to know what they are? Oh good. So he's done, he's basically succeeded and I find myself wondering about all of the foreshadowing that had happened in KQ2+. Like, when the Father says the next time they meet Graham will seek him out? Well, I think that'd be silly for the Father to talk about since he won't still need the Crown by then....[/spoiler]
So what I'm getting at is, AGDI should have made a sequel and not remade KQ3 to continue their story. They set it up that way in KQ2+ and they did their whole story a disservice by NOT going that route in the end.

Now, IA stayed with the traditional KQ3 except in places where the story is a little uncertain or doesn't make much sense. The only "new" things, really, are fixes or things like Mordack -- who Roberta had no doubt not imagined. Now, the graphics and the voice acting.... I love the graphics, myself, but I agree some of the voice acting is flat. That said, the story is perfection. 

Also, I don't see what the hype about Justin Beiber is. He's not all that great of a singer, yet girls flock to him like the ice cream man in summer. Maybe it's because, even when I was a kid, I was never all that much into boy singers and boy bands (NSYNC, Aaron Carter) and didn't buy more than one or two of their cds.

Justin Bieber is utterly talentless, unintelligent, and unattractive. How he's famous I cannot fathom. But the same is true of Kristen Stewart, as far as I'm concerned.
(And please don't kill me for that either!)