Not a huge fan of Miss Swann myself, but - far as I can tell - the Pirates movies are set in post beginning of the 19th century. Love matches in her class were not uncommon and were aspired to - the age of arranged marriage had ended several decades before. The novels of Jane Austen and the Brontes would have never been popular if love matches were unfashionable. There were certainly economic matches made, but as the only child of an assumably relatively wealthy man, Miss Swann would have had no reason to make one.
(See Stephanie Koontz’ A Brief History of Marriage).
Besides, since her father seems to have overindulged her in everything else, why should she not expect to be indulged in her choice of a husband.
She is too. You cannot wish away how Lord only knows how many millions of people have reacted to her.
That may be, but (mostly due to the movie, I’m sure) the audience doesn’t get the memo.
They don’t do what they’re supposed to do, I’m afraid.
I really do think it’s the movie. I think it’s impossible for most people to watch the movie and not at least somewhat fall in love with Vivien Leigh as Scarlett, and overlook or at least condone all the bad shit she does. (And - note to Annie-Xmas here - nowhere near all of it is in the name of survival.) I know that when I read the book, a few years after watching the movie, my personal opinion of Scarlett did a 180°.
I don’t acknowledge the Disney efforts, as per my enmity to the Mouse and its ilk. If you’ll remember the Barrie play, you may recall that fairies are described as being so small that they only have room in their hearts for one feeling at a time. I’ve always thought that was JM’s way of saying “Tinkerbell’s a bitch” without being vulgar.
I like Bobby Goren, though I can easily see why people wouldn’t. And in fact I need to be specific in my definition of “like.” I find the character dramatically engaging, and if he were real and I a police lieutenent I’d want him on my squad–but I wouldn’t be FRIENDS with him. I’m pretty sure Eames is his only real friend, in fact.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read the abridged version of the tale we were exposed to in junior high. But doesn’t Paris get relegated to the background for most of the story? Calling him a romantic hero seems to overstate his role considerably. My recollection is that he and the assorted goddesses (all hail Discordia!) get the story rolling, then he all but disappears after that.
Sure, he’s a twerp, but I feel sorry for him more than anything else. He never asked to be a playa - he’s minding the sheep like always, and all of a sudden three goddesses appear to him, and start a bidding war that’s going to propel him into a completely different life that he’d be unready for, no matter what he decides.
I seriously loathe the Peanuts characters. I don’t see anything either funny or endearing about them. And I don’t know why a guy who would write the exact same strip over and over and over and over again is considered such a genius.
I also cannot stand the Flintstones. Actually, I find the whole Hanna-Barbera roster to be absolute shit, but no one gives a damn about Huckleberry Hound or Yogi Bear or Quickdraw McGraw anymore (although I saw that one of the cable networks is running this tripe). But the Flintstones linger on as a pale, flat, unfunny imitation of the Honeymooners, and I just wish they’d get flushed.
Another vote for Lucy.
I have to agree with RTFirefly about Scarlett O’Hara. She was one twisted bitch, but at the same time, it was damned difficult not to fall in love with Vivian Leigh’s portrayal of her. I find the whole movie almost unwatchable, but lord that woman had presence.
I recently saw part of a Lucy episode where Ricky wouldn’t let Lucy sing on the show but Fred and Ethel were both singing on the show. Like THEY could sing? Did he have any standards at all?
I like Ellen’s talk show, but her sit com with her blathering on and on about nothing–I couldn’t stand her on that.
No one will agree with me here, but I hate the Simpsons.
Home Improvements: Stupid husband hurts wife’s feelings. Annoying children run around. Neighbor tells stupid husband to apologize. He does and wife forgives him. He grunts and/or burps or makes that weird sound. Large tools and cars are suggested to substitute for his lacking anatomy.
Everybody Loves Raymond: Husband seems to be stupid. Wife seems to be smart. The have a fight and get back together in the end. Raymond’s father makes a fart joke. Raymond’s mother is a bitch. Raymond’s brother is large.
Seinfeld: George is stupid. Everyone lies all the time. George’s parents scream at each other. I still liked it.
Reality shows: I will never understand why anyone watches any of them.
Yeah, fair enough. Still, snagging the wife of a powerful king, with a goddess’s help or no, is freaking stupid. Especially when he knows who did it.
And yes, Miss Swann did have the right to marry more or less whomever she wanted. Her father probably would have accepted it, too, and – as in the end of the first movie – Norrington would have blinked in some astonishment, gritted his teeth, and shrugged.
Still, she pisses me off. And the recent movie just made me hate her ALL THE MORE.
Who takes off his shoes while aboard a plane flying through a tropical storm?
Who, when he takes too-small shoes off a dead pilot, wouldn’t realize that toes are more vulnerable to the sharp coral than heels are and cut the backs, and not the toes off the shoes?
Who runs the only battery of the only flashlight he has out by leaving it on all night the first night on the island?
Who waits an interminable amount of time to open washed-up FedEx packages? I’d rip ‘em open in a heartbeat to see if they held anything useable. I know he’s supposed to be FedEx’ loyal little wage slave, but the damned packages were eligible for insurance claims the moment the pilot announced he was ditching the plane. The idiot’s loyalty wasn’t to FedEx at that point but to some soulless underwriter he’d never met.
I’d be damned if I’d die for a goddamn insurance company. I’d rip those suckers open immediately.
I could go on and on about how this guy was too stupid to last a week, let alone years.
This got me as well. I’d open the packages immediately, looking for useful items. FedEx could fire me if they wanted, as long as they took me back to the US to do it.
How on Earth did this tread hit four pages before someone mentioned this character? The level of brainless stupidity that that show is responsible for could fill the ocean.
I don’t mind that kids like the drivel. It’s a children’s cartoon. That’s what it’s there for. What I can’t begin to grasp is all the adults and college aged people I’ve met who like it. Why?!* I can’t be in the same room as that show without entering a state of tooth-grinding loathing. I really can’t begin to accurately describe how much I despise it.
Forrest Gump – he’s a freaking* idiot *whose stupidity is presented as a kind of secular saintliness.
Gomer Pyle – another valorized fool, and that gawd-awful “Suhprise, suhPRISE, suhprise!” catchphrase of his has been stuck in my head since I was first exposed to that show.
Mr. Rogers – even when I was a little kid, he creeped me right the hell out.
“The Master” and “The Mistress” in Albert Payson Terhune’s books about the Sunnybank Collies – what a couple of God-awful, smug, sanctimonious snobs! Not too far from a realistic depiction of Mr. and Mrs. Terhune in real life, from what I understand, either.
Rhett Butler is supposed to be “beloved”? I always thought he was supposed to be thought of as that douchebag who got away with being a douchebag. I never thought he was supposed to be a beloved character.
Yes, but he goes off to fight the war, he pursues Scarlett through war, poverty and husbands (despite the fact he knows she things she loves Ashley) he mothers Bonnie better than Scarlett, he cultivates the Old Society for her sake, her suffers so when she dies (lets ignore that he gave her permission to jump in the first place) and he goes back at the end to “make peace with my people.” Plus he is rich and handsome.
That makes a lot of women love him. It makes me think he is one lucky stupidhead.
I don’t hate either Rhett or Scarlett. I like the fact that they are both flawed and complex. I root for Scarlett because she uses whatever she has; the book starts by saying that she is not beautiful, but manages to make men fall in love with her anyway. Personally, I see her as very immature, and self-centered, but with excellent math skills and common sense. I guess I’ll always root for the women who are good at math and science and for the strong women who survive by sheer force of will.
However, I can’t stand the characters in the Honeymooners. Threatening physical violence just turns me off.