Unpopular Opinion Thread

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Spuro
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

Post by Spuro »

Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 4:30 am
SoggyNoodles2016 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:29 pm
gottatalktothefake wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:57 am Since the fourth just came and went, I’ll say that I’m not a patriotic person. I don’t hate America, it’s just annoying to see people that are “proud to be American” as if it’s some sort of accomplishment to be here.
Agree wholeheartedly.

Not even a political thing, it just gets to be a bit too much for me sometimes, people screaming about it or whatnot.
As an American, so many American customs puzzle me.

The Pledge of Allegiance especially confuses me. We like to shit on countries like North Korea for their cultish behavior, then turn around to stand and chant our unerring devotion to a piece of cloth every school morning. It's creepy as hell.
Wait, the Pledge of Allegiance? I’m Canadian and never heard of that term before.

Do you sing the national anthem on school mornings? We do that up here.
Last edited by Spuro on Fri Jul 09, 2021 12:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

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Spuro wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 12:13 pm
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 4:30 am
SoggyNoodles2016 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:29 pm

Agree wholeheartedly.

Not even a political thing, it just gets to be a bit too much for me sometimes, people screaming about it or whatnot.
As an American, so many American customs puzzle me.

The Pledge of Allegiance especially confuses me. We like to poop on countries like North Korea for their cultish behavior, then turn around to stand and chant our unerring devotion to a piece of cloth every school morning. It's creepy as hell.
Wait, the Pledge of Allegiance? I’m Canadian and never heard of that term before.

Do you sing the national anthem on school mornings? We do that up here.
When I was a kid, in elementary school in the 1960s and 1970s we started every day with the Pledge of Allegiance and the first (and sometimes the second) verse of "My Country 'Tis of Thee".

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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

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Spuro wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 12:13 pm
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 4:30 am
SoggyNoodles2016 wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:29 pm

Agree wholeheartedly.

Not even a political thing, it just gets to be a bit too much for me sometimes, people screaming about it or whatnot.
As an American, so many American customs puzzle me.

The Pledge of Allegiance especially confuses me. We like to poop on countries like North Korea for their cultish behavior, then turn around to stand and chant our unerring devotion to a piece of cloth every school morning. It's creepy as hell.
Wait, the Pledge of Allegiance? I’m Canadian and never heard of that term before.

Do you sing the national anthem on school mornings? We do that up here.
The Pledge is basically what it says: pledging your loyalty to the country usually by addressing it to a flag in the classroom. It was a common practice in most places though it usually has been phased away (not in my experience, they still had us do it in high school to a flag on the morning broadcast, but then again, that was a very conservative school...)

Not usually. Basically, only at big events like graduation or public assemblies.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

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Spuro wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 12:13 pm Do you sing the national anthem on school mornings? We do that up here.
I'd like to highlight this statement. Mandatory patriotism, problematic or not, is hardly some American aberration. Other first world countries do the same thing.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

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Yeah, see, you accidentally highlighted the problem there.

PATRIOTISM is fine. Love your country, support the vets, all very good.

People who make it MANDATORY or go too far in "showing" their patriotism in dangerous ways or attacking others for not being patriotic? Thats not only not cool but it's a slipper slope to a lot worse
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

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SoggyNoodles2016 wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 6:49 pm Yeah, see, you accidentally highlighted the problem there.

PATRIOTISM is fine. Love your country, support the vets, all very good.

People who make it MANDATORY or go too far in "showing" their patriotism in dangerous ways or attacking others for not being patriotic? Thats not only not cool but it's a slipper slope to a lot worse
I'd also argue that being critical of your country is a form of patriotism in itself. Perhaps the best kind. No place can improve if its people don't acknowledged its flaws and work to make positive change.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

Post by Jermobooka »

Spuro wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:08 pm
SoggyNoodles2016 wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 6:49 pm Yeah, see, you accidentally highlighted the problem there.

PATRIOTISM is fine. Love your country, support the vets, all very good.

People who make it MANDATORY or go too far in "showing" their patriotism in dangerous ways or attacking others for not being patriotic? Thats not only not cool but it's a slipper slope to a lot worse
I'd also argue that being critical of your country is a form of patriotism in itself. Perhaps the best kind. No place can improve if its people don't acknowledged its flaws and work to make positive change.
What’s the point of being critical when the US of A already attained perfection the second it cut ties with the bri*ish? 8-)
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

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Jermobooka wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:17 pm
Spuro wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:08 pm
SoggyNoodles2016 wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 6:49 pm Yeah, see, you accidentally highlighted the problem there.

PATRIOTISM is fine. Love your country, support the vets, all very good.

People who make it MANDATORY or go too far in "showing" their patriotism in dangerous ways or attacking others for not being patriotic? Thats not only not cool but it's a slipper slope to a lot worse
I'd also argue that being critical of your country is a form of patriotism in itself. Perhaps the best kind. No place can improve if its people don't acknowledged its flaws and work to make positive change.
What’s the point of being critical when the US of A already attained perfection the second it cut ties with the bri*ish? 8-)
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

Post by SoggyNoodles2016 »

Jermobooka wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:17 pm
Spuro wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:08 pm
SoggyNoodles2016 wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 6:49 pm Yeah, see, you accidentally highlighted the problem there.

PATRIOTISM is fine. Love your country, support the vets, all very good.

People who make it MANDATORY or go too far in "showing" their patriotism in dangerous ways or attacking others for not being patriotic? Thats not only not cool but it's a slipper slope to a lot worse
I'd also argue that being critical of your country is a form of patriotism in itself. Perhaps the best kind. No place can improve if its people don't acknowledged its flaws and work to make positive change.
What’s the point of being critical when the US of A already attained perfection the second it cut ties with the bri*ish? 8-)
You're right, the British oppressed 80 countries, we only did 40!

Go us!

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Spuro wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:08 pm

I'd also argue that being critical of your country is a form of patriotism in itself. Perhaps the best kind. No place can improve if its people don't acknowledged its flaws and work to make positive change.
My exact viewpoint as well.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

Post by _JNavs_ »

I always saw the whole pledge thing as a dedication to the troops growing up, likely since my dad's been in the Army for 26 years. But looking back it does seem very hivemindish to praise a government I never agreed too upon birth.

But that's a whole other conversation.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

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I’m very patriotic when it comes to Australia, but I’m also very ““““patriotic”””” to other countries like the UK, France and the US.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

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Voyager wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:26 pm
Jermobooka wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:17 pm
What’s the point of being critical when the US of A already attained perfection the second it cut ties with the bri*ish? 8-)
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I’m sorry, I can’t hear your very valid counterpoint over the sound of that war you lost against EMU’S! 8-) 8-)
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

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Jermobooka wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 8:36 pm
Voyager wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:26 pm
Jermobooka wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 7:17 pm
What’s the point of being critical when the US of A already attained perfection the second it cut ties with the bri*ish? 8-)
Slavery :?
I’m sorry, I can’t hear your very valid counterpoint over the sound of that war you lost against EMU’S! 8-) 8-)
Least we ain’t fighting OURSELVES ;)

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Also we ain’t brutally suppressing democratically elected Latin Americans.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

Post by JAGzilla »

SoggyNoodles2016 wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 6:49 pm Yeah, see, you accidentally highlighted the problem there.

PATRIOTISM is fine. Love your country, support the vets, all very good.

People who make it MANDATORY or go too far in "showing" their patriotism in dangerous ways or attacking others for not being patriotic? Thats not only not cool but it's a slipper slope to a lot worse
No, there was no accident there, I'm fully in agreement that making this stuff mandatory is absurd, hypocritical, and potentially dangerous. I just get the impression that a lot of Americans think that other free, well-off countries don't have anything like the Pledge of Allegiance, when they certainly do. We're backwards and stupid in any number of ways, yes, but so is everyone else.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

Patriotism should be encouraged, in the context of your duty to your fellow countrypeople, and being critical of your government is one of the most patriotic things you can do imo. At the end of the day, a government should serve the people.
There's a difference between earnest patriotism and Patriotism™ as peddled by nationalist peabrains.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

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The issue is that I've seen a lot of patriotism that is based in a superiority complex often by the ignorant. After living in Japan for the past three years, and traveling the world a lot more my patriotic feelings towards the United States has increased. There's a lot of appreciate and love about America, as well as things that are very unique to the country that sets it apart, but I always find it amusing that often the so-called patriots are those that wish to take away what makes it special or don't realize exactly what makes it special beyond mind-numbingly repeating cultural memes without really getting a full understanding as to what it entails.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

Post by GodzillaFan_13 »

I find the RPO Mechagodzilla and MV Mothra designs to be overrated to hell and back. the former being the Heisei poster version but half-baked and kinda a patchwork mess, and the latter just takes alot of Hollywood's Stereotypical giant bug design tropes and shoves them on Mothra.

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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

Post by Major sssspielberg! »

I find Kill Bill to be one of the most overrated movies ever.
Kill Bill has about everything I dislike about Tarantino as a director. Anything of merit about those films can be found elsewhere, in The Street Fighter, Lady Snowblood, Executioners from Shaolin etc etc.
Kaltes-Herzeleid wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 9:44 am I love Final Wars. I praise Final Wars. Simple as.

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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

Post by Jermobooka »

I know I’ll get castrated, hung, and crucified (in that order) for this, but…

I don’t like Citizen Kane. Sure, it shaped cinema in an insane amount of ways, but when I judge the film by itself? I just can’t get into it.
Last edited by Jermobooka on Wed Aug 04, 2021 2:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Unpopular Opinion Thread

Post by eabaker »

Jermobooka wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 2:10 pm I know I’ll get castrated, hung, and crucified (in that order) for this, but…

I don’t like Citizen Kane. Sure, it shaped cinema in an insane amount of ways, but when I judge the film by itself? I just can’t get into it.
Eh, I get it. I find it a stunning technical achievement, I think Welles is magnificent, and on the whole I think the individual scenes are well-accomplished, but it's never come together as something tremendously moving for me. And I think the "Rosebud" reveal is trite and simplistic, and directly undercuts the far better point that has just been made, which is that there is no one thing that can explain a person's whole life.
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