tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post6043027740994300399..comments2023-09-24T07:53:50.826-05:00Comments on The Atheist Experience™: "Wanted": In which I take a dumb summer action flick entirely too seriouslyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-44305000980012289922008-07-11T12:47:00.000-05:002008-07-11T12:47:00.000-05:00read the comic book, and I think you should just e...read the comic book, and I think you should just enjoy the movie and not care about an unnoticeable allegory I think the people who wrote the comic book thought it the assassin frat idea would be a cool thingthe Loganatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04249053996765864344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-71126899896620579582008-07-09T16:12:00.000-05:002008-07-09T16:12:00.000-05:00To me the overall theme was how it is ones respons...To me the overall theme was how it is ones responsibility to find out who we are. To get control of our own life and to find meaning for it.<BR/><BR/>Is not working in a cube, following a loom or the fact that you have learned mad killing skillz who define the course your life should take. <BR/><BR/>Another theme i liked was at the end when the main character asks what have you (the viewer) done with your life. This is really important considering that this life is all we got.<BR/><BR/>I may be way off from the true meaning of the movie, but this is what i got out of it.<BR/><BR/>(BTW pardon misspellings. English not my first language.)Brigshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15413144884615614085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-32384669547530768012008-07-09T11:07:00.000-05:002008-07-09T11:07:00.000-05:00I found it odd that everyone simply believed Sloan...I found it odd that everyone simply believed Sloan when he said the loom called for them all to die. Everyone knows Sloan can 'fabricate' results from the 'loom' to say whatever he wants. Everyone knows Sloan is clever. Isn't it convenient that the best way out of being caught in fraud and having his power usurped is by having the loom call for every ones death? Why didn't it occur to them that he was lying again? Sloan is a cult leader using a loom as is religious power stick.<BR/> <BR/>As for Angelina's Dad, it was the divine will that his killer die, but the assassin failed. What proof does she have that there was a failed assassin attempt? A piece of fabric, and a convenient story?<BR/><BR/>I took the loom to be a religious tool akin to reading tea leaves, cards or throwing bones. You can do it as many times as you like until is says what you want. Then simply display the result, or 'fabricate' them on the loom<BR/><BR/>As we have all seen these are religious tools to dupe people into the will of the religious leaders, because it is some "super natural" will.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02092249525227424101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-11515400776133792382008-07-08T20:17:00.000-05:002008-07-08T20:17:00.000-05:00Utterly and completely off topic, but I just had t...Utterly and completely off topic, but I just had to point out that "snoggered" is a fantastic word. I feel embiggened just by reading it.Paul Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09247954135752131284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-40651992773511253692008-07-08T17:48:00.000-05:002008-07-08T17:48:00.000-05:00It WAS funny; I nearly snoggered out some soda thr...It WAS funny; I nearly snoggered out some soda through my nose after she said it. (She gets pretty elaborate with the hand gestures the more emphatic her point is...)<BR/><BR/>But, yeah, a compelling reason would be better than an arbitrary one.spajadigithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04796546096636247752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-47707098248372171362008-07-08T15:32:00.000-05:002008-07-08T15:32:00.000-05:00>my wife said "No loom is going to tell ME who to ...>my wife said "No loom is going to tell ME who to kill without telling me WHY!") which means that my safety is assured, I guess.<BR/><BR/>Of course, it might be better to say "...without giving me a really good reason." Note that there's no indication that "why" needs to be anything compelling. I'm sure that was implied--but just the way it is stated here strikes me as funny.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-31229447283508239882008-07-08T14:22:00.000-05:002008-07-08T14:22:00.000-05:00I didn't really take to the premise in the first p...I didn't really take to the premise in the first place -- that is, vigiliante justice or save one in the assumption that it saves a thousand. Killing people you deem by yourself evil seems like a sleazy process to begin with.<BR/><BR/>It's like a horrible version of Minority Report without the reasonable ending message.Zurahnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06325048684652466640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-76408598455408072742008-07-08T13:33:00.000-05:002008-07-08T13:33:00.000-05:00I agree with your analysis, but I still thought th...I agree with your analysis, but I still thought the movie was cool. AJ was too skinny. One has to suspend disbelief at the movies.NALhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12244370945682162312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-80319283209003349682008-07-08T13:23:00.000-05:002008-07-08T13:23:00.000-05:00Ok. I loved it. It created a pretty animated debat...Ok. I loved it. It created a pretty animated debate between me and my wife, which for me, is always a good sign.<BR/><BR/>I didn't think of it as god manipulating the loom, so much as fate; impartial and not particularly good or evil. I like fantasy a lot, and this is a pretty common theme.<BR/><BR/>I also liked the idea that if Sloan (Morgan Freemans character) hadn't twisted the loom to his own ends, perhaps the other assassins wouldn't have turned up as targets.<BR/><BR/>Yes, your points are all good ones, and I'm glad that such a TCP/IP connection to the winds of fate doesn't really exist, but I got sucked in and enjoyed talking about whether trusting the loom was was good or bad in the context of a fantasy universe. (my wife said "No loom is going to tell ME who to kill without telling me WHY!") which means that my safety is assured, I guess.spajadigithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04796546096636247752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-47859040093430836572008-07-08T13:03:00.000-05:002008-07-08T13:03:00.000-05:00I certainly agree with your discussion of how we d...I certainly agree with your discussion of how we decide who to trust, what is honest versus manipulation, etc. However, I would be very surprised if the the makers of the film had intended this particular philosophical message. Had they done so (or done so intelligently) the movie would have been more internally consistent (how many people died on that train?)<BR/><BR/>But I did really like the movie. The final matrix-like action sequence in the factory was really cool!Callomachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06393607358893671043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-43584980549211972642008-07-08T12:59:00.000-05:002008-07-08T12:59:00.000-05:00I think we can take it for granted that according ...I think we can take it for granted that according to the plot, Fox's dad dying was not a good thing. Even if he did deserve to die, he died in a particularly awful way that traumatized her.<BR/><BR/>I'm not questioning the story's ultimate conclusion that the loom was correct. I'm complaining about the unreasonableness of that message.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05324968314168283095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-78786957393367579762008-07-08T11:41:00.000-05:002008-07-08T11:41:00.000-05:00And what might Angelina's dad have done if he'd no...And what might Angelina's dad have done if he'd not been killed? Perhaps he'd have done an even greater act of evil--shot up a kindergarten or something along those lines?<BR/><BR/>The loom is flawed in that regard, because there would be no way to ever determine if it was doing "good" or "EE-vil."<BR/><BR/>It requires blind trust in an entity that is a black hole with regard to knowledge. "You can't understand the mind and ways of the loom. You just have to trust it is good."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33241741.post-2058720737246699372008-07-08T11:13:00.000-05:002008-07-08T11:13:00.000-05:00Maybe you should have just watched WALL-E instead....Maybe you should have just watched WALL-E instead.Tommykeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14751182125861177379noreply@blogger.com