Stuff like Tolkien or C.S. Lewis are obvious, but other authors, movies, music, or entertainment might not be as well known.
So, how about a thread that lists some recommendations for things untouched by modern insanity?
Stuff like Tolkien or C.S. Lewis are obvious, but other authors, movies, music, or entertainment might not be as well known.
So, how about a thread that lists some recommendations for things untouched by modern insanity?
Movies: Any Mel Brooks movie. Almost all of them have offensive, self-aware, and ironic black stereotypes, played smart and to mock racist tropes, but we're not even allowed to have that anymore.
Michael Mann is pretty based. Heat is the greatest movie of all time. Collateral is the only movie where Tom Cruise plays a villain, and he kills it. Thief is the best first-outing of a film director that springs to memory. Great crime stories that humanize all the characters involved.
Where Eagles Dare is a badass WWII movie that also features Clint Eastwood's highest killcount.
Waterloo (1970) I believe still holds the record for largest cast of any movie anywhere. Russia lent a zillion soldiers to the production, and the battles are full scale, fucking amazing, incredible, ball shattering, and nobody's ever heard of it. It will never, ever get made again. Everything will be CG from here on out.
TV:
Becker, with Ted Danson. I've always hated sitcoms but love Becker. Almost every episode he makes fun of a blind black guy.
True Detective season one was pretty based.
Books:
The Complete Works of Plato. About half the Socratic dialogues are transcendentally brilliant, given the time in which they were written, and half are infuriatingly bad (like when he tries to divine the origin of words). Gorgias is probably my favorite dialogue.
Normal Accidents by Charles Perrow is a really fascinating dissection of Three Mile Island, and many preceding complex catastrophes (Apollo 11, Texas City explosion, Teton Dam failure). Probably my favorite book I've ever read.
Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. More than anything I'm just awestruck with his writing. The amount of humility, kindness, and gratitude to his colleagues that resonates from his writing is really rare. Really a remarkable man.
Sir Walter Raleigh's Speech from the Scaffold. He was a spy, an explorer, a diplomatic, philosopher, eventually put to the death for treason. His final speech before execution is well attested and documented, and I hope we can even muster a tenth of his courage and eloquence if we ever face the axe.