(via mattonfire)
Internet Argument
Month: April 2010
He’s made of bubbles.
“You ever think about how in, like, a Tom Hanks movie, everyone lives in a reality in which there’s no such person as Tom Hanks? Because otherwise, people would be mistaking the main character for Tom Hanks all the time? So either Tom Hanks doesn’t exist in the world the movie takes place in, or he does exist but he looks like someone else? I mean, you could have a character break the fourth wall and go ‘Aren’t you the guy from Cast Away? Hey, sign my volleyball!’ or whatever but you can’t really do that in a serious screenplay, so you’re pretty much stuck with that bare minimum level of willing-suspension-of-disbelief before you even get started, unless it’s a period drama or something. And the funny thing is the more famous your star is, the bigger the leap of faith you’re asking the viewer to take when no one in your narrative universe recognizes him, so in a way, paradoxically, great actors undermine their own credibility by their very presence—hey, are you even listening to me? What are you—oh, that’s just Bob. He’s made of bubbles.”
Ning’s PR Flub
Get Your Own Social Network!
Ning is the only online service where you can create, customize, and share your own Social Network for free in seconds.
There’s nothing ambiguous about that statement. There are no caveats, no exceptions, no hints that this is a short-term offer. You can see for yourself, thanks to Archive.org’s Wayback machine.
All those schools, all those churches, all those non-profit organizations and local clubs and youth groups now find themselves with the rug pulled out from under them. “Pay up or get out” is the short version of Rosenthal’s message. “We got you here by telling you we were a free service but we’ve changed our mind. Don’t like it? Tough shit. Business is business.” It has the sour taste of extortion. Want to keep that community and all the assets you’ve been building these last few years? It’s gonna cost you.
But the word that keeps repeating in my mind is “betrayal.”
