Yes, he described Palestinians as "the bugs" and said some other really fucking ignorant quotes from that movie without the slightest understanding of Paul Verhoeven's intent (his effort may have been doomed from the start; he even scolded actors on set for "not getting it" and just enjoying the fascism).

I have some license with what I say because I'm moving and transferring out of state in a few weeks but I also don't want to have a bad mark on my record by saying something particularly scary about the IDF, so what should I tell him on Monday?

  • UlyssesT [he/him]
    hexagon
    ·
    1 year ago

    They sure did.

    How do I even argue with him? I know I didn't reach him yesterday.

    • FunkyStuff [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      the-doohickey

      Honestly though, just tell him that he isn't engaging with art in anywhere near an intelligent way. That it's very surface level. If he's like most libs that will offend him and he might need to reconsider how he interpreted it.

      • UlyssesT [he/him]
        hexagon
        ·
        1 year ago

        Honestly though, just tell him that he isn't engaging with art in anywhere near an intelligent way. That it's very surface level.

        He's the chemistry teacher so he gleefully shits on the humanities. debord-tired

        • NephewAlphaBravo [he/him]
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          oh then why's he even pretending to understand a movie, ask him if you can fuck around in his lab despite not being a chemist

          • UlyssesT [he/him]
            hexagon
            ·
            1 year ago

            He believes that he can do a non-STEM job just as well as a non-STEM person because only STEM degrees matter and everything else is, quoting him, "children's puppet theater."

            Good fucking luck putting on a children's puppet show without knowing anything about children's puppet theater, by the way.

            • sloth [none/use name]
              ·
              1 year ago

              Maybe if "Starship Troopers" was presented in 'children's puppet theater' format the themes would be more apparent.

              • UlyssesT [he/him]
                hexagon
                ·
                edit-2
                1 year ago

                Nuance allows incuriously smug people that think they know everything to decide what something means and be smug about it.

                No wonder such people hate things that are "for babies" because the message might be too clear for them to make up for themselves.

            • SchillMenaker [he/him]
              ·
              1 year ago

              That's why I love having a stem doctorate. I get to make those people feel like the shit idiots they are.

            • NephewAlphaBravo [he/him]
              ·
              1 year ago

              sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to be a completely incurious dipshit, it always sounds so stress-free

              • UlyssesT [he/him]
                hexagon
                ·
                1 year ago

                It'd be blissfully ignorant treat consumption, all while believing one is The Main Character and by extension the Chosen One, just like in the treats. blob-no-thoughts

            • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
              ·
              1 year ago

              He's right in the exact wrong way lol. Without any understanding of the humanities, it is a puppet show- and he's the puppet.

              • UlyssesT [he/him]
                hexagon
                ·
                1 year ago

                Excellent. I may well say just that next time I see him, but then again, the "ENTERTAINMENT HAS NO EFFECT ON ME" crowd is pretty ironclad in their belief.

              • UlyssesT [he/him]
                hexagon
                ·
                1 year ago

                I don't think he likes kids at all, at least in any way that can be considered appropriate for school. All of his "funny anecdotes" are Mr. Herkabe-from-Malcolm-In-The-Middle style contempt for kids while feeling smugly smarter than them. smuglord

            • ChaosMaterialist [he/him]
              ·
              edit-2
              1 year ago

              Did... did you teacher have a part in Starship Troopers? Is he this guy?

              Show

              EDIT:

              He believes that he can do a non-STEM job just as well as a non-STEM person because only STEM degrees matter and everything else is, quoting him, "children's puppet theater."

              An obvious counter that should shut this dude down: "Why are we talking about this? It's just a movie, not real life. Why are you reading so much into it?"

              Meet his incuriosity with your own. He sounds like he's seeking validation for his intelligence and denying that will drive him up a wall.

              • UlyssesT [he/him]
                hexagon
                ·
                1 year ago

                An obvious counter that should shut this dude down: "Why are we talking about this? It's just a movie, not real life. Why are you reading so much into it?"

                Meet his incuriosity with your own. He sounds like he's seeking validation for his intelligence and denying that will drive him up a wall.

                I think I may do just that as part of my response in the break room tomorrow. He does seem to base a lot of his worldviews on fiction (and not just that movie) while also deriding fiction as "children's puppet theater." projection

          • UlyssesT [he/him]
            hexagon
            ·
            1 year ago

            Some of my least pleasant classroom experiences in college were STEMbros (especially the TE part) that dragged their feet through the one or two non-STEM courses they had to take from time to time and had to constantly signal how displeased they were with being there.

          • ClimateChangeAnxiety [he/him, they/them]
            ·
            1 year ago

            I fully believe university education should be mandatory for most people, with more cross-field education required.

            I know so many STEMbros who couldn’t understand the themes of a film or book if you smacked them in the head with it, and I also know so many humanities majors that fundamentally don’t understand the physical world around them to a point I don’t understand how they can walk down the street without dying.