Yes, he described Palestinians as “the bugs” and said some other really fucking ignorant quotes from that movie without the slightest understanding of Paul Verhoeven’s intent (his effort may have been doomed from the start; he even scolded actors on set for “not getting it” and just enjoying the fascism).

I have some license with what I say because I’m moving and transferring out of state in a few weeks but I also don’t want to have a bad mark on my record by saying something particularly scary about the IDF, so what should I tell him on Monday?

  • BeamBrain [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    “The humans were the good guys in Starship Troopers” + “Israel good” = “Israel is like the humans in Starship Troopers”

    Huh, turns out two wrongs do make a right.

    • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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      That did come up. He wore irony armor, however, and remarked that he “looked cool” but that he wasn’t a nazi; “it was just a cool uniform and he was doing it for the human race. He cared about human life so he wasn’t a nazi.” morshupls

  • Mindfury [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    tell him service guarantees citizenship and convince him to fly over there

    however, put a gps chip in his fucking shoe or something and provide HAMAS with his location data

    • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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      If he wasn’t seeking tenure and wasn’t an all-talk coward I’d totally enjoy reading about his adventures in the Reddit Brigade like what happened in Ukraine. sit-back-and-enjoy

      • ClimateChangeAnxiety [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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        I feel like being this much of a fucking idiot should disqualify him from tenure but honestly professors with tenure seem to be universally worse people and worse at their job than ones without.

        I know when conservatives rage about wanting to get rid of tenure they’re wrong and evil but it’s hard to not instinctually agree when it really does seem like a system that’s only there to protect the worst people in academia and keep out young blood. Like, maybe if you’re so shit at being a professor that people are constantly calling for you to be fired, you should go work at Walmart instead.

        Honestly I feel like the respect for tenure comes from this absurd idea that pushing someone “down the societal ladder” is wrong. Why do you get to hold on to your fancy professor job when there are better people to do it? There are plenty of jobs a disgraced professor can do, they’re the same jobs the rest of us can do! Deliver pizzas you fucking rube.

  • ChaosMaterialist [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    If he’s really gung-ho about Starship Troopers, and with the Israeli troop buildup, how exactly the first invasion of Klendathu went?

    Why was Humanity’s military intelligence at the time of invasion caught so flat-footed, both during the Buenos Ares asteroid and the first Klendathu invasion, especially in light of the Israeli intelligence failure?

    Would he accept being a sacrifice to learn about the bugs? If he does not, then he’s just a civilian and not a citizen. Does he disapprove? “Well too bad. [Politicians and the military] have to make decisions that send hundreds of people like you to their deaths.”

    And, finally, military recruitment is down in the US. Why not join up? “We have the ships. We have the weapons. We need soldiers! They’ll keep fighting, will you? Service guarantees citizenship!

    cue Klendathu Drop

    • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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      My prediction is that he’d get dreamy-eyed and just remember the spectacle, scene by scene, if I cited the movie in the way you suggested.

      He’s one of those very uncurious “smart” types. The curtains are very fucking blue to him and the fiction is both great wisdom on the surface and is just fiction when challenged or when interpretations are made.

      • ChaosMaterialist [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        I would act pretty slack-jawed golly-gee-darn-that-makes-no-dern-sense ignorant, and bring up those questions and ask how the Israelis should be any different? Like really make him explain it step-by-step. Use it to appeal to his logic side as you twist it in knots. Lead him into interesting conflicts of logic with “stupid” questions and a bunch of Whys. Be that dork in the movie that can’t believe bugs think if you want inspiration and make him try to be the “smarter” commentator.

  • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    Tell him that the Buenos Aires attack was obviously a false flag operation by the humans to declare war on the bugs. Show him this map and ask him how a bunch of bugs who don’t even have basic vehicles let along spaceships was able to propel a giant rock halfway across the galaxy to precisely fit a major city and not just miss the solar system altogether. Not-so-subtly insinuate that only the most clueless rubes would fall for this in-universe bullshit and that said clueless rubes who totally bought an in-universe narrative that’s even implausible by WH40k standards are even more clueless about the complexity that is real life which does not benefit from a film director hitting said clueless rubes repeatedly over the head with the themes of the movie. Do all this in the most smug voice imaginable.

    • UlyssesT [he/him]@hexbear.netOP
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      It might backfire if he’s one of those irredeemable Roman fappers that thinks “casus belli” is based and not a horrifying doctrine, you know, where his side and whatever it does to get ahead is “based.” He does seem to be the “Manifest Destiny was cool and good and so was the slave trade because they both elevated primitives out of mud huts” type, especially after I argued once about the blood price of lithium and he countered with something about “mud huts” and “wasted resources” untapped beneath those mud huts that could be used instead “for the mission” my-hero . smuglord

    • ChaosMaterialist [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      Problem: The movie addresses the asteroid in a previous scene (hits Carmen’s battleship, disables communication) and this chud will pick up on that immediately. While I like your idea generally, in this specific case this dudebro will have an obvious counter.

      • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]@hexbear.net
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        That’s why I mentioned WH40k. There’s no sci-fantasy setting save for WH40k where a starfaring civilization could even destroy a city that’s halfway across the galaxy without using what present civilizations of that setting considers ancient for-all-intents-and-purposes-magic (eg Forerunners, Xel’Naga, Protheans, Celestials). It doesn’t matter if it’s Star Wars, Star Trek, Starcraft, Halo, Mass Effect, Dune, and so on. WH40k could get away with it through warp shenanigans as in the civilization shoots the rock through a warp rift and have the rock appear on the another side of the galaxy to strike the city.

    • usernamesaredifficul [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      That might work for convincing him that the humans in starship troopers are wrong but it would probably be more relevant to the point actually intended to point out the various ways Israel continually brutalises and marginalises Palestinians

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    Tell him it’s not professional to talk about politics at work.

    Then steal his spark plug wires on the way home.

    There’s no convincing homie at this point.

  • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    Lol this is one of those “my red is your blue” moments, because I also think the vibe is reminiscent of Starship Troopers but guys like him will never understand why