# The greatest Whoosh of all time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153 "2007-10-09T23:22:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/41 "2007-10-10T15:53:40Z")
In the music genre: Third Eye Blind’s _Semi-Charmed Kind of Life_ is about addiction to crystal meth. It’s often played as a light-hearted, upbeat kind of look at life. The Police’s _Every Breath You Take_ is about a stalker/obsessive boyfriend but is often seen by the clueless as an endearing love song. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/42 "2007-10-10T16:01:04Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] A taste of the past “discussions” can be found [here](http://208.100.26.199/sdmb/showthread.php?t=280116&highlight=lissner+starship). 😃 [/QUOTE] Man, it was sad to read that. A lot of dearly departed posters. I even miss **lissener**. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/43 "2007-10-10T16:02:05Z")
[QUOTE=Cat Fight] _Ulysses_. I remember a few bits that pointed to this and thinking, ‘Dammit, Joyce, are you daring me to read on?’ [/QUOTE] Both \*Ulysses \*and _Finnegan’s Wake_. Lot of damn nonsense, if you ask me. While studying \*Ulysses \* in grad school last spring, I was often tempted to ask the professor if the whole thing wasn’t either a load of self-absorbed shit, or an elaborate practical joke. I refused to even buy _Finnegan’s Wake_; I finished my semester paper early, turned it in and quit going to class before we got to it. Oops, posted before I saw \*\*Birdmonster’s \*\* post. Well, anyway, glad to know I’m not alone. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/44 "2007-10-10T16:12:23Z")
I agree with the notion that Paul Verhoevan’s entire Hollywood career was one gigantic whoosh. Robocop and Total Recall were the last movies he even tried to take partially seriously. Starting with Basic Instinct he’s been sticking his thumb in the eye of both the Hollywood studio suits that gave him the money to make movies and the moviegoing public, and laughing at us for being such idiots. There’s a man with a lot of stored up hate for humanity. Look over his movies, and you’re not going to find a decent human being in any of them. They’re all either scheming villains, corrupt assholes, or cardboard cutout “heroes”. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/45 "2007-10-10T16:13:15Z")
Not the greatest whoosh of all time, but still… I fondly recall an argument with the librarian when I was about 15 years old, after discovering that Philip Jose Farmer’s _Tarzan Alive!_ had been shelved in the Biography section. I kept trying to convey why this was so obviously wrong-- _because it’s Tarzan?!_ The librarian simply pointed to the book’s Library of Congress number and patiently explained that this proved the book was Non-Fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/46 "2007-10-10T16:30:20Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] The only intended satire in **Starship Troopers** was the costume design, and I doubt Verhoeven realized even that (he has shown no penchant for satire, and very little sense of humor). The rest was straight adventure. The “satire” rationalization came long after the film came out as a way to fight back against the general (and generally correct) impression that it was a godawful movie. [/QUOTE] You think the fake browser windows and the “click for more detail” voiceovers were intended completely unironically by Verhoeven, then? I’m with **Baldwin**. _Starship Troopers_ isn’t a good movie, but to claim Verhoeven didn’t intend it as a satire is just silly. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/47 "2007-10-10T16:51:07Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Man, it was sad to read that. A lot of dearly departed posters. I even miss **lissener**. [/QUOTE] That’s sweet. Why don’t you tell [Lissener](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9058095&postcount=4) that directly? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/48 "2007-10-10T16:54:27Z")
I was 16 when **Starship Troopers** was released and much more interested in Denise Richard’s breasts than any social satire. Denise Richard’s breasts never made an appearance (however, Dina Meyer’s did :eek: ), but I was treated to one of the funniest parodies of action movies and war movies ever. Verhoeven knew exactly what he was doing and I could tell that at 16. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/49 "2007-10-10T17:03:46Z")
_Metal Machine Music_ for the win. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/50 "2007-10-10T17:07:14Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] [Gingerly dips toe into can of worms] I think that the movie of **Starship Troopers** was a lot more faithful to both the story and themes of Heinlein’s novel than most book-to-movie SF adaptations. The first time I read the book I figured that the neo-Fascism espoused in the book was itself a whoosh, and that Heinlein was himself pointing out the political dangers of fetishising the military: then as I read more about Heinlein, I came to figure that he was apparently serious. Verhoeven’s movie isn’t a satire, in that all the militarism and extreme violence of the movie was already present in the book: Verhoeven is merely holding a mirror up to it. [/Gdticow] [/QUOTE] You must have read a completely different book. Unless of course you equate any kind of service (especially military service) to Nazism, which it seems you might. The discussions about service and how it was made part of the society was the opposite of Nazism. In the book the system was put in place in answer to a totalitarian regime which used the service and patriotism of it’s youth for their own ends (Nazis). The system as it was in the book was the answer to that (180 degrees from how it was portrayed in the movie). You couldn’t be more wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/51 "2007-10-10T17:14:15Z")
[Drake’s Plate.](http://www.dailycal.org/sharticle.php?id=10960) According to _Mad Magazine_, Stonehenge. The Trojans would probably say that big wooden horse the Greeks parked outside their gate turned out to be a big one. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/52 "2007-10-10T17:46:40Z")
[The “Close Door” button on elevators.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_406.html) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/53 "2007-10-10T17:51:28Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] That’s sweet. Why don’t you tell [Lissener](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9058095&postcount=4) that directly? -FrL- [/QUOTE] D’oh! Seriously, I thought he was gone! ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/54 "2007-10-10T18:02:05Z")
Canada as an eco-friendly nation. But I guess that’s a supreme PR job, rather than a whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/55 "2007-10-10T18:02:27Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] Denise Richard’s breasts never made an appearance (however, Dina Meyer’s did :eek: ), [/QUOTE] Rico was an ass, Dizzy is WAY hotter. Five minutes into Basic and I’d be saying, “Carmin who?” ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/56 "2007-10-10T18:08:19Z")
The Piltdown Man hoax. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/57 "2007-10-10T18:30:19Z")
[QUOTE=Encinitas] The Piltdown Man hoax. [/QUOTE] How was that a whoosh? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/58 "2007-10-10T18:31:25Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] How was that a whoosh? [/QUOTE] Well, wasn’t there Barnum’s fake of the Piltdown Man? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/59 "2007-10-10T18:35:17Z")
IIRC, just about everything Andy Kaufman did was a whoosh. His act went over the heads of many. Even when he revealed he had cancer (in all seriousness) people thought he was putting them on. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153/60 "2007-10-10T19:44:41Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] In the book the system was put in place in answer to a totalitarian regime which used the service and patriotism of it’s youth for their own ends (Nazis). [/QUOTE] If I recall correctly {and I’m open to correction on this; it’s been a couple of years since I read it}, the political system began when a bunch of military vets returned from a disastrous World War to find a shattered society preyed on by spivs, criminals and black-marketeers, got pissed off, hung a few people from lamp posts, and began reforming the political system on military lines, based on the patriotic and self-sacrificing civic virtues instilled by military service. That could just about have been written with a straight face after WWII, but after Vietnam Heinlein’s fetishisation of the military as all that was good and noble about society began to look distinctly queasy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-whoosh-of-all-time/422153.md?page=4)