Well I honestly couldn't tell you if America as a country is more patriotic than other countries or vice versa. One thing I can say about America is that we just don't care enough about other countries cultures to know that kind of stuff. Earlier you said there would be an outrage if Serbia made a pro-Serbia film. Honestly that would not be the case. We wouldn't care or know about it. Despite our government's approach to world politics America historically has been an isolationist happy to focus inward. That's how it was up until after WWII. Government changed after that, but the culture never did.

I still don't really think it's a super common theme in most of our media and I still think you're looking more at the past and grouping it all together. ID4 was 15 years ago. Michael Bay's movies?? Well he's done some like Pearl Harbor and Armageddon, but most of his stuff I think is just generic action crap. Is Transformers patriotic? Honestly I don't know, I haven't watched that crap (or really any of his movies). Most of this decade he's focused more on horror oddly enough too.  I just think that's what we export. Movies like the American Pie series (which sadly are the majority of our films) probably don't perform real well overseas.

And I think throwing Captain America in there doesn't quite work. Yes he is a patriotic character, but he is part of the comic book to movie trend. His character just happens to be based on that of a patriot. Truth be told he's not a real popular character in the world of comic books, and his comic isn't a great seller. It's actually been cancelled several times since it's incarnation, most recently just 10 years ago. #1 comic in this country is and has been Bat Man for quite some time (X-men was neck and neck for a while though). Nothing particularly patriotic about him.

Let me put this a different way.  These are the movies currently playing at my area movie theaters:

• Bridesmaids - female targeted comedy
• Priest - post apocolyptic vampire action movie
• Thor - God of Thunder comic book movie
• Jumping the Broom - African American/female targeted comedy
• Something Borrowed - romantic comedy
• The Beaver - Black comedy with Mel Gibson talking through a puppet
• Go For It - Generic dance movie
• How To Live Forever - humorous documentary about aging
• Everything Must Go - Drama/comedy starring Will Ferral
• Fast Five  - Action/car movie
• Prom - Teenager targeted comedy
• Hoodwinked 2 - animated comedy
• Last Night - Drama/romance
• Scream 4 - Horror
• Legend of the Fist: Return of Chen Zhen - Asian Action/Kung-fu
• The Greatest Movie Ever Sold - Documentary about advertising
• The Conspirator - Period piece/legal drama
• Rio - Animate comedy

Okay these are the films playing in most US theaters right now. This selection is very representative of what is playng at any given time in our theaters. There's nothing here about the US being invaded or fighting other countriries or terrorisit organizations. Throughout the course of the year there will probably be a couple, but in the grand scheme of things they a small tiny slice of all the movies that get made and distributed.

Iga_Bobovic said:

With the Serbia example I meant the outrage that would be caused in the rest of the world and the region. Not America necessary.

And when it comes to patriotism, America is on about the same level as Turkey and some of the Arabic countries. I think it has to do with education.


The higher educated countries like Sweden and Norway tend to be less nationalistic. You know Arabs and Americans have more in common than they would care to admit. Both are nationalistic, both are very religious and both have problems with the theory of evolution. Women have a much better position in the States, but there are some nice parallels there.

And almost all movies go overseas here. American Pie included.

It is well known to me that Americans don't know much about the outside world. Which is a shame, but we shall educate them one at the time. Starting with Vader.

I may be kicking a hornets' nest but you shouldn't use Sweden and Norway in the same sentence when it comes to these matters.  The Norwegians fought very bravely in the great war and many of them gave their lives, so did the Americans, so did most countries who consider their freedom is something worth dying for.  The Swedes on the other hand not only did they not fight, but they gave trains to the Nazis so they could get to Norway quicker.

Another thing is ... the fact that Europe is at present reasonably free is largely thanks to the many Americans who came and fought here in WWII.  I for one am eternally thankful for that and I think it's foolish to be arrogant and condemning towards the US even if their foreign policy may be at times be gang ho.  I think that (in broad strokes) they have and fight for a good set of values and ideals even if on occasion they have been misguided (everybody makes mistakes).

Well, I can say this about the U.S. (which I live in the center of: Kansas): I hated seeing people doing stuff like shouting "USA! USA!" after the announcement that bin Laden had been killed. This country would have been much better off, politically, economically, and socially, had the 9/11 attacks never happened. What I mean by that is that as an unnecessary consequence of the attacks, we and our politicians have screwed us over big-time. Airport and plane security, anti-Muslim sentiments, suspicion and hatred, the Patriot Act, surveillance.... I imagine that the terrorists got part of what they wanted. When people live like they do in some of those Middle Eastern countries, it's easy to see places like the U.S. as decadent, especially due to how U.S. foreign policy has shaped other countries. They must like seeing us screw ourselves over.

At first, I scoffed at the "they're doing this because they hate our freedom" explanation, thinking it to be purely nationalistic rhetoric. But if the terrorists have conservative Islam as one of their primary motivators, I can see it being true to a large extent. However, I'm very sure it's not their only motivator. Foreign policy, as I said. No matter what's being pushed on people, it's still being pushed on them. One would be a fool to not expect a push back. And radical religious people are perfect candidates to carry out that push.

Yes, I called you opinion idiotic, because it was just that, idiotic. I suggest if you do not want to be called like that, you should not make idiotic statements. And I don't give a shit about credentials. Mine own or yours. And what has my Master of Science in Mechanical engineering got to do with this topic? I do not consider myselft intelligent,not my fault other people think that. That there problem, the only bad thing is that they expect great thing from you only to get dissapointed. Again their problem.

Talking about hypocrytes.

bugsonglass said:

I  I for one am eternally thankful for that and I think it's foolish to be arrogant and condemning towards the US even if their foreign policy may be at times be gang ho.  

You just claimed it would be foolish and arrogant to condemm the US. Yet you have trouble someone calling this opinion idiotic. Wrong actions should always be condemmed, why is it so hard to accept that we judge every individual to the same standard? A War crime is a war crime, no matter if it is done by Serbia, America or Russia.

And what has the fact that I was born in Holland have to do with it. So I am guilty because the piece of land I currently live in has done some evil things in the past and are still doing evil things right now? Heck my ancestors did not even live in that country back then, they were hiding in the mountains of Montenegro fighting Turks back then. And even ancestoral guilt is crap. You should be judged by the things you have done as a individual and not something your country has done or your ancestors have done.

And I know that the standard of life is great in Holland. It is much better than the US for example. But that does not mean I agree with them , I would like that the market opens up for all goods in the EU. I would like that African countries have a fair shot in trading with Europe. Not sure how it makes me a hypocrite.

And could you please name one of these stable Middle Eastern democracies? The only thing that approaches a democracy is Turkey and they are not fully there yet

gamingeek said:

The Guardian LA Noire review just leads to the guardian games page

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/games

And I can't spot the review.

Maybe they re-directed it after they realized they had broken embargo -- when I clicked on the story earlier it was up.  Basically they guy liked it.

gamingeek said:

...

I don't get it. I thought NPD group banned the reportng of these figures. I guess some stuff leaks but how can we trust it and shouldn't NPD be readying its lawyer army about now?

The data goes to too many people for it not to leak.  Unless you gave everyone different numbers it would be impossible to find out where the leak came from.

gamingeek said:

So Ubisoft said about Project Cafe:

...



"So we will not have to redo completely the games that we create. We'll be able to use all the capacity the console is giving but also use all the work we do for the other platforms.

Which means the rumours about its power and being in HD are probably true.

That's the positive way to look at it.  The other way (negative I guess) would be that the Wii2 will dorwn in old ports from the PS360.  But if one had not a HD console already, that would be a good thing.

I hope that also means that there is a conventional controller.

robio said:

Let me put this a different way.  These are the movies currently playing at my area movie theaters:

• Bridesmaids - female targeted comedy
• Priest - post apocolyptic vampire action movie
• Thor - God of Thunder comic book movie
• Jumping the Broom - African American/female targeted comedy
• Something Borrowed - romantic comedy
• The Beaver - Black comedy with Mel Gibson talking through a puppet
• Go For It - Generic dance movie
• How To Live Forever - humorous documentary about aging
• Everything Must Go - Drama/comedy starring Will Ferral
• Fast Five  - Action/car movie
• Prom - Teenager targeted comedy
• Hoodwinked 2 - animated comedy
• Last Night - Drama/romance
• Scream 4 - Horror
• Legend of the Fist: Return of Chen Zhen - Asian Action/Kung-fu
• The Greatest Movie Ever Sold - Documentary about advertising
• The Conspirator - Period piece/legal drama
• Rio - Animate comedy

Okay these are the films playing in most US theaters right now. This selection is very representative of what is playng at any given time in our theaters. There's nothing here about the US being invaded or fighting other countriries or terrorisit organizations. Throughout the course of the year there will probably be a couple, but in the grand scheme of things they a small tiny slice of all the movies that get made and distributed.

Okay back on topic. Patriotism in American movies and other media.

You are right there in the grand scheme of things the patriotic movies are a small part. Still think that Americans are more patriotic and nationalistic that other western countries. And I think it is because of the education. Smart people have a more sophisticated world view that the simpletons USA USA chanting Miami Heat fans (okay the Miami Heat is just to rub on over Vader). The movie and game makers only follow their wallets. They show what people want to see.

Okay another one. Does not matter how bad these patriotic drivel is, it pales in comparison to these teenage movies. Fuck the war on terror and drugs. I say we start waging a war on Twilight  and Hana Montana. We shall haunt down Sunny, we shall bring down Justin Bieber. Let it be known, the world will not stand for this!

Iga_Bobovic said:

Oh forgot about Dances with the Wolves. Heck I remember when I was smaller the movies made it seem that the Indians were the bad guys. It is really disgusting once you find out what really happned. Later series and movies did set things right.

And of course there is lots of awesome cartoons. I really love Pixar for example. But the discussion is about the flag waving patriotism. And it is more prevalent in American media then in other countries. I remember Independence Day which was just a big patriotic wank fest. I remember all Micheal Bay movies, wish I could forget those. I remember Captain America. Are you claiming that the USA is less patriotic than Europe?

So?

Netflix does work, but you have to unsuccessfully attempt to log into the Playstation Network two or three times before you can get into the Netflix account.

aspro said:

Iga_Bobovic said:

... Are you claiming that the USA is less patriotic than Europe?

Europes not a country

Bullshit. Europe is too a country. Next thing you're going to say is that Canada isn't the fifty-first state.