Unpopular Opinion Thread

[JAGzilla]

Were Egyptian babies enforcing slavery? Because they were a lot of the ones being killed. Now, I suppose if they were accepted into Heaven, death was a mercy for them.

We have no idea, but they probably would grow up to accept it, it's how they would be taught.

We have no idea if babies were enforcing slavery? I mean, fair enough, I guess we weren't there. If I had to put my money on a guess, though...

And now we're punishing people for things they might do in the future. God can predict the future, I suppose, but then we have to wonder why He created babies He knew He would have to kill for becoming evil slave owners.

[Voyager]

I don’t think that’s what’s really going on. Cam and I may disagree on this but I don’t think God was punishing the children because of what they might do in the future. It was a sacrifice for His (the Hebrews) people.

Then later, when Jesus lived and died, His death was a sacrifice for all, whether you’re Jewish or Gentile.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Regarding the second bit, I think there are a lot of cases this gets thrown around because there is a collection of common criticisms lobbed against the show that aren't particularly sympathetic to those suffering from mental illness to begin with. To be blunt, I think the "Why doesn't shinji just man up" argument to be pretty insensitive and one might as well ask, "Why doesn't the guy in the wheel chair get up and walk". This is not to say that one cannot have a criticism with how mental illness is portrayed, nor must they enjoy something simply because it focuses on mental illness (I think one unfortunate qualities of the show is the almost "bait and switch" nature which starts off normal enough, but then focuses on very different things than what might initially attract viewers), but simply saying "the show would have been better if shinji wasn't a p*ssy" is not something I'd consider productive or constructive.

I think this this is a good summary of the criticisms I’ve seen of Evangelion that I don’t particularly care for. I also find the reasons why Shinji is weak to be infinitely more interesting than “Get in the Robot Shinji, you’re a weakling”.

It’s important to remember when and where Evangelion exists. It exists in a bubble of power fantasies aimed at teenage boys where the protagonist is typically super strong, goes through tremendous popular growth and has a lot of friends. Examples include Dragonball Z (which I love), Naruto, Bleach and One Piece. All are fine, but Eva delivers something else. Eva is a reaction to that, to a degree and it’s honestly more interesting as a character study.

I’d also like to say, Shinji’s “hedgehog” syndrome makes his brief victories, and moments of high elevated action, infinitely more exciting. Not to spoil anything, but the conclusion of Shin Evangelion (Part 4), really paid everything off imo.

Evangelion is probably my favorite anime series. It’s the only one I’ve spent re-watching repeatedly. It’s also a series that has grown on me the more I watch it. The last time I watched a couple of episodes on Netflix, and I was just taken aback how visually beautiful it is (peak Japanese 90’s anime, other than maybe Dragon Ball Z), and how it consistently nails it’s “soft apocalypse” vibes (the world is gradually ending, and pretty fucked, but people can still go to school and have hope!).

I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here, Jetty, but yeah.

[JAGzilla]

I don’t think that’s what’s really going on. Cam and I may disagree on this but I don’t think God was punishing the children because of what they might do in the future. It was a sacrifice for His (the Hebrews) people.

Then later, when Jesus lived and died, His death was a sacrifice for all, whether you’re Jewish or Gentile.

Yeah, I know. I'm just being a jerk here, mostly. But this is a legitimately interesting and educational discussion. We should probably move it into one of the religion-centric threads to avoid clogging up this one, though. I'll go find one...

[Spirit Ghidorah 2010]

How so?

How is God just as bad as Satan and Zeus when God has never sinned?

God murdered all the innocent first-born children in Egypt in the Moses story. And to say nothing of the Great Flood...

Old Testament God was kind of a dick, lol.

Christians: "All life is sacred. That's why abortion is terrible and should be forbidden."

Also Christians: "Well, except for those who deserved it. Fuck em'. And their babies should die because they might do something bad in the future."

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

In regards to the above Eva discussion, I've never been part of the "I hate Shinji because he's a wimpass crybaby" camp. I don't really like any of the characters in Eva to be honest but Shinji isn't the worst offender. I do love the animation; that, the music and the cool Angel designs were the reasons I kept watching despite not being fond of the characters and finding the story became less engaging over time. I think it's an interesting show, I certainly don't hate it, but it's very much not my cup of tea.

In regards to the above Christianity discussion, I'm genuinely disturbed by the suggestion that "Egyptian babies deserved to die because they'd have grown up to be bad." That straight up sounds like promoting eugenics. What if contemporary governments started using that mentality to justify the slaughter of infants who could grow up to be "sinful?" Can't possibly imagine what groups of people might be genocidally eradicated if that happened... And if you think that's farfetched, don't forget that Nazi Germany tried to do exactly that less than 100 years ago.

[Voyager]

In regards to the above Christianity discussion, I'm genuinely disturbed by the suggestion that "Egyptian babies deserved to die because they'd have grown up to be bad." That straight up sounds like promoting eugenics. What if contemporary governments started using that mentality to justify the slaughter of infants who could grow up to be "sinful?" Can't possibly imagine what groups of people might be genocidally eradicated if that happened... And if you think that's farfetched, don't forget that Nazi Germany tried to do exactly that less than 100 years ago.

I disagree with Cam's notion that the "Egyptian babies deserved to die because they'd have grown up to be bad.", but calling it eugenics? That's just inflammatory. Eugenics is the unscientific and immoral theory of racial improvement. They were not killed on the basis of being Egyptian, nor on the basis of "growing up to be bad". Let us also remember that the Pharaoh was warned something horrific would happen after the previous 9 plagues yet the man was so stubborn in that he did not heed the warnings of Moses.

Oh, and if anyone's gonna be doing eugenics in this time, it's the Egyptians. They ordered for the systemic killing of every, newborn Israelite male. Wasn't a one time thing where only the firstborns were killed.

I'm getting carried away. If you want to continue we can move to the religion thread if you'd like.

[LegendZilla]

Hayao Miyazaki has been called the Japanese Walt Disney, when he strikes me more as the country’s Don Bluth.

[Legion1979]

Hayao Miyazaki has been called the Japanese Walt Disney, when he strikes me more as the country’s Don Bluth.

Please elaborate on this gem.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Hayao Miyazaki is Japan’s Hayao Miyazaki.

That's a personal gripe of mine: using comparisons of other people in order to explain a specific important artist or celebrity. I understand why it's done, but it feels dimminishing of Miyazaki's own life and accomplishments.

[MogeGoji1994]

The Cardassians are the most interesting and well written (and my favorite) species in Star Trek

[LegendZilla]

1. The perfect runtime for any manga and/or anime is 5-10 years and any longer is overkill. Looking at you One Piece.

2. The decision to incorporate Batman's origin into 2019's Joker was detrimental to the film. Largely due to the fact that a) it's been overdone and b) Arthur Fleck will be an old man and dying of lung cancer by the time Bruce Wayne comes of age.

3. Using bludgeons (hammers and maces) in battle is more practical than bladed weapons (i.e swords).

4. I think it sucks that San still can't forgive humans as a collective at the end of Princess Mononoke. It hinders my appreciation for the film.

5. Both Kamen Rider and Super Sentai should hold back and make future series have approx. 25 episodes like how Ultraman currently does.

[Leviarex]

A couple for the current month:

Despite loving Christmas, I actually don't really have a problem with people who hate it. People are free to feel however they want about certain holidays; it's all a matter of what they do with those feelings.

I don't consider being alone on Christmas to be all that bad (not that I'm going to be myself), especially depending on your company related options.

[HedorahIsBestGirl]

Here's are two totally unrelated unpopular opinions because I'm bored:
- I don't care for gift-giving holidays. Trying to buy the perfect gift for every member of my extended family on Christmas causes a lot unneeded stress and if I pick the "easy option" and give out money/gift cards, I always feel insincere. I also don't care much for receiving gifts; I like buying my own stuff. If I had it my way, I'd only buy gifts for my parents and my cousins who are still young kids. But everyone else buys gifts for everyone in the family so I feel obligated to do so in order to not look like a cheap or uncaring shithead.
- The Nintendo 64 is an overrated dogshit console with a library of mediocre games and the most godawful abomination of a controller ever designed. The graphics never looked good and have aged like a glass of milk on a hot summer porch. I'll take my 2D 16-bit SNES graphics over these blocky polygon abominations and untextured backgrounds any day. Millennial nostalgia has put one of the worst consoles ever on a pedestal that it needs to be toppled from. Counting on you, Gen Z.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Here's are two totally unrelated unpopular opinions because I'm bored:
- I don't care for gift-giving holidays. Trying to buy the perfect gift for every member of my extended family on Christmas causes a lot unneeded stress and if I pick the "easy option" and give out money/gift cards, I always feel insincere. I also don't care much for receiving gifts; I like buying my own stuff. If I had it my way, I'd only buy gifts for my parents and my cousins who are still young kids. But everyone else buys gifts for everyone in the family so I feel obligated to do so in order to not look like a cheap or uncaring shithead.

Yep. I think money should be more normalized as a gift in the United States. In Japan/China/pretty much all of Asia, giving money in a specific type of envelope is seen as an appropriate gift. It's nice to get something that you think someone wants/needs, but if ti's rushed in the moment it can be incredibly unnerving and stressful. IMO, the communal aspect of it can still exist, give money and all go shopping together or something. A lot of families and groups of teens do that here.

In regards to myself, all the stuff I really want is obscure/hard to get, or requires some forethough. I'd rather just get the money and go through the process myself.

- The Nintendo 64 is an overrated dogshit console with a library of mediocre games and the most godawful abomination of a controller ever designed. The graphics never looked good and have aged like a glass of milk on a hot summer porch. I'll take my 2D 16-bit SNES graphics over these blocky polygon abominations and untextured backgrounds any day. Millennial nostalgia has put one of the worst consoles ever on a pedestal that it needs to be toppled from. Counting on you, Gen Z.

Mixed on this one, and actually growing up I never had an N64. I like Banjo Kazooie+Tooie, Mario 64, and the Zelda Titles...but that's about it? I think the gamecube and ps2 have way better selections, but no one is nostalgic for the gamecube like they are the n64. I don't think the n64 graphics are great, but they have this weird effect on me, like early 3D/CGI stuff is infinitely cool to look at. There's dozens of GC games I love, including some obscure ones. But the n64 after it's flagship stuff is a little vague.

[LegendZilla]

The Scooby Doo franchise needs to be put on hiatus for a good while. The formula was perfected in Mystery Incorporated.

[Mac Daddy MM]

The Scooby Doo franchise needs to be put on hiatus for a good while. The formula was perfected in Mystery Incorporated.

Actually 100% agree. And also, speaking of Scooby Doo, the only way I really would ever watch a new series is if its done mature, dark and serious while not butchering the characters. Sort of like the aforementioned Mystery Incorporated, but more violent, death and blood. The closest we ever got was Zombie Island, and I want that amplified and taken to the max. Have the gang actually get in some REAL trouble. Force Scooby into becoming more than just a goofy, stoner dog that eats too much to protect the gang.

[godjacob]

MCU Quicksilver is a better speedster than Fox's Quicksilver.

As cool as Fox's Quicksilver's speed scenes are, they kinda highlight how stupidly fast he is to the point where it is plot compromising. They literally had to just send him home for the climax of Days of Future Past cause if he was there the conflict would've been settled before anyone knew what happened.

MCU Quicksivler is fast enough to get the idea across, but not so fast he breaks the plot of the film he is in.

[JAGzilla]

MCU Quicksilver is a better speedster than Fox's Quicksilver.

As cool as Fox's Quicksilver's speed scenes are, they kinda highlight how stupidly fast he is to the point where it is plot compromising. They literally had to just send him home for the climax of Days of Future Past cause if he was there the conflict would've been settled before anyone knew what happened.

MCU Quicksivler is fast enough to get the idea across, but not so fast he breaks the plot of the film he is in.

This. Speedster heroes are kind of tricky to balance like that, which is probably why we don't see much of them in movies so far. Godlike speed that makes normal people look like they're standing still is extremely cool, but then no one can challenge this character. They don't need teammates. But then if you make them too slow, there's no point. The best compromise is what we often get: the speedster is some combination of young, naive, cocky, or dumb. Maybe they have the potential to use their power in amazing ways, but their inexperience or incompetence holds them back.

[EarthNeronga]

I don’t know if this is unpopular but the only people who should be executed for their crimes are pedos and people who have zero remorse for their crimes

(Acually this isnt unpopular; anyone would want all pedophiles and remorseless criminals to die)


Okay heres my actual unpopular opinion

Shin Godzilla is one of the best godzillas out there