How do you pull yourself out of a funk?

[waif]

If mort grew up he wouldn't be able to hit on 16 year olds anymore /obvious pedo joke.

@ Dakryn, never saw ponyo but I can't imagine you would enjoy Spirited Away.

@ Einherjer, on the topic of animes for people who don't like anime, Ghost In The Shell is worth watching, assuming you enjoyed Blade Runner and The Matrix. Aside from being visually stunning, it's intellectually stimulating to the point of causing headaches.

 

[muzmaze]

-go for a drive and put in a fav cd or 2
-go for a jog / exercise
-drink beers
-and of course giving or receiving a nice hug from my little daughter always helps

 

[Dak]

@ Dakryn, never saw ponyo but I can't imagine you would enjoy Spirited Away.

@ Einherjer, on the topic of animes for people who don't like anime, Ghost In The Shell is worth watching, assuming you enjoyed Blade Runner and The Matrix. Aside from being visually stunning, it's intellectually stimulating to the point of causing headaches.

Without going in depth, my main problem with anime storylines is that the majority create alternative worlds that in my opinion are the stuff of nightmares (Spirited Away being a perfect example), and on par with horror movies, the majority of which I also do not watch. I don't believe in putting visual garbage in my head, and shitty alternative universes imo are major visual garbage.

I love the Matrix, and I know that there are many anime movies in the vein of the Matrix, but the ones I have seen usually either A. Glorify machines/technology over humans, or B. Generally leave the hero/heroine having won a battle but losing the war against either machines/whatever evil outcome of the industrial age. The core thinking behind the anime style vs the Matrix trilogy are completely opposed.

Less importantly, anime as an art style is visually repulsive as well in most cases, as the colors are generally childish, and the drawing generally effiminate/childish in style. On the other hand there is anime that looks like cartoon version of the Matrix/other similar sci-fi movies, which isn't as bad but still not nearly as good as it would be if it were drawn by say, DC artists.

 

[Einherjar86]

From some reviews (among other things) I've read about anime, I've noticed a cyberpunk thrend that, if anything, displays a "post-human" world in a negative light (i.e. it's very apocalyptic and brutal). Of course, I can't speak for all anime; but it seems to me that the two I'm intrigued by (Neon Genesis Evangelion and Ghost in the Shell) are both rather anti-technological. Or perhaps a better explanation would be that it neither glorifies nor villifies it, but rather attempts to realistically portray a potential future world.

 

[Badbird]

Lot of things like music and going out somewhere.

 

[Cythraul]

Dakryn, I don't expect anybody to like anime, and I only like a small amount of it myself, but you have the fucking weirdest opinion about it that I've ever seen. Alternative universes are major visual garbage? What the hell does that even mean?

 

[cookiecutter]

This thread is putting me into a funk

 

[Dak]

Dakryn, I don't expect anybody to like anime, and I only like a small amount of it myself, but you have the fucking weirdest opinion about it that I've ever seen. Alternative universes are major visual garbage? What the hell does that even mean?

Undesirable alternative realities/universes. Filling your brain/time with information about impossible, undesirable scenarios/realities/universes is the mental equivalent of physically submersing yourself in shit.

 

[A1a23]

When I'm feeling depressed, I'd much rather listen to something brutal and extremely aggressive rather than listen to depressing music. Listening to depressing music while I'm depressed only makes me feel even more depressed.

 

[cookiecutter]

You are the opposite of me. I tend to like to listen to depressive music when I am sad because it is much more desirable to feel sad because of music than because something bad happened in real life. I enjoy feeling melancholy in a controlled way that has no consequences, which is exactly what depressive music provides.

 

[Dak]

When I'm feeling depressed, I'd much rather listen to something brutal and extremely aggressive rather than listen to depressing music. Listening to depressing music while I'm depressed only makes me feel even more depressed.

Haven't been depressed in forever, but I was this way when I did.

 

[Hez]

Undesirable alternative realities/universes. Filling your brain/time with information about impossible, undesirable scenarios/realities/universes is the mental equivalent of physically submersing yourself in shit.

Have you no interest whatsoever in escapism for the sake of escapism then?

Just curious, because like somebody else said, you have an bizarrely unique viewpoint on this stuff.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

I love the Matrix

Please explain what you find desirable about a world where the surface of the earth has been destroyed, humanity is enslaved by machines, and the few remaining free humans live in a single underground city that is constantly under siege. I am quite curious to know how this is not "the stuff of nightmares".

 

[waif]

Also, the second two are just undeniably trash.

 

[Dak]

Please explain what you find desirable about a world where the surface of the earth has been destroyed, humanity is enslaved by machines, and the few remaining free humans live in a single underground city that is constantly under siege. I am quite curious to know how this is not "the stuff of nightmares".

The perspective is different from the majority of anime, not to mention most of the stuff in the Matrix can be taken at a deeply symbolic nature of the way things are now as well as the surface understanding of the way things could become.

In the end, the cycle of slavery/siege is broken, and we are back to "normal" human run world.

@Hez: Sure, I don't mind escapism into more or equally desirable realities/universes. I have yet to see an anime film that made me go "cool, wish I was there".

 

[waif]

most of the stuff in the Matrix can be taken at a deeply symbolic nature of the way things are now

That's not very deep at all.

 

[Dak]

And I was accused of being vague. To take it deeper you would have to cross into conspiracy theory waters and they go as deep as you want.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

The perspective is different from the majority of anime, not to mention most of the stuff in the Matrix can be taken at a deeply symbolic nature of the way things are now as well as the surface understanding of the way things could become.

So in other words it takes imagination to get something valuable about an otherwise "worthless" work of art. Something you apparently use selectively.

You can look at damned near any artistic "nightmare world" and find something symbolic in it, or something that provides food for thought on any number of questions of human nature, metaphysics or the mysteries of life. The Saw movies, for example, are completely nightmarish, but that's part of their value in exploring the darker side of human nature. You're simply not bothering to find value in certain types of art, probably because you're culturally prejudiced against them.

In the end, the cycle of slavery/siege is broken, and we are back to "normal" human run world.

So in order for a work of art to not be "garbage" in your mind it has to have some hackneyed, predictable "hero saves the day" ending? If you really think that's what gives a work of art value, you are completely clueless to what art is about.

 

[Dak]

So in other words it takes imagination to get something valuable about an otherwise "worthless" work of art. Something you apparently use selectively.

Not sure where you got that idea.

You can look at damned near any artistic "nightmare world" and find something symbolic in it, or something that provides food for thought on any number of questions of human nature, metaphysics or the mysteries of life.

It depends on the perspective and presentation. I refuse to to read the works of someone like, say, Crowley because he was truly evil, and there can be nothing good in his works. It would only be poison for the mind.

The Saw movies, for example, are completely nightmarish, but that's part of their value in exploring the darker side of human nature. You're simply not bothering to find value in certain types of art, probably because you're culturally prejudiced against them.

While the practical possibility of the various methods of torture/killing in Saw movies is arguable, it's still dealing with real problems in the real world. Very often anime is dealing with childish/never-will-exist issues in a fake world.

Edit: I said earlier I don't watch horror movies much (anymore), haven't watched any Saw film past Saw 3, and only saw (lol) parts of it.

So in order for a work of art to not be "garbage" in your mind it has to have some hackneyed, predictable "hero saves the day" ending? If you really think that's what gives a work of art value, you are completely clueless to what art is about.

It does not need a "predictable" ending, but to see evil triumph is not mentally healthy in any shape or form. If seeing good prevail is considered "hackneyed" or "predictable", then you don't actually take the whole good vs evil thing seriously, while I do.

 

[waif]

What the fuck is wrong with Crowley? Not saying he's a swell dude, but...truly evil?