Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[Ryujin]

I've had authory friends ask for volunteers.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I have two bachelor’s degrees and two master’s degrees. All of which are literature and book related.

Double major in English and Communications.

Just for giggles…
Undergrad: Majors in Econ & Philosophy; minors in Art, Art History, English Literature & Religion

Graduate: Law, MBA (in Sports& Entertainment Marketing), certificate in Mediation

I’m a junkie for academics.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Either he hates everyone he knows or he needs a naming dictionary.

There’s all kinds of books on names.

I think your “friend” is doing it on purpose.

 

[trappedslider]

okay i need to get this

 

[Thomas Shey]

IME, that’s true of ALL chains.

Yeah, they all make an effort to keep the customer experience as uniform as possible between locations, but the human element always matters.

Yeah, there used to be a couple of Carl's Jrs I went to, and one never made a single error, while the other I needed to hold their feet to the fire. And given I'm a plain-burger guy this was far from trivial.

(The thing I've noticed on the whole burget places have a tendency to just not believe is that you don't want cheese. I consider American cheese nothing but a source of unwanted additional calories, so this is pretty much the Platonic ideal of "not what I want, but not so bad I won't eat it.")

 

[Thomas Shey]

Re: symbolic analysis:

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Sometimes the gun isn’t Chekov’s.

Though that one is tricky. When it comes to film and TV, any time there's anything that stands out of the background, chances are pretty strongly that its serving a purpose--even if the purpose is just to throw you off. That's because of the limited amount you have to do various things in those media, and the fact someone has to put sets together and decide how to frame scenes. Occasionally in printed fiction one has the luxury just to take up some space with description for the heck of it, and may free-associate to give the scene more color, but at least with close-ups that's not something you can afford with movies, or even moreso with TV shows.

(Of course showrunners and the like know a fair number of people are aware of this, so sometimes they'll do it just to throw you off. But that's still purposeful).

 

[Thomas Shey]

The corollary is the Law of the Midlife/ Latelife Return:

As we age, and especially after we hit 40, we find it worthwhile to return to the adolescent window. Despite all the changes you’ve undergone, those things are usually as enjoyable as they were then. You may even see more in them than you realized was there. Just as important, you start to realize how the ways you passed your idle hours shaped your view of the world—the way you think and feel, important parts of your very identity.

Though I've found that a mixed bag. Some stuff still holds up reasonably. Some stuff I'm unable not to see the politics of much more clearly than I was back then, and it usually doesn't improve the work.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

When it comes to film and TV, any time there's anything that stands out of the background, chances are pretty strongly that its serving a purpose--even if the purpose is just to throw you off. That's because of the limited amount you have to do various things in those media, and the fact someone has to put sets together and decide how to frame scenes.

That REALLY depends. For a while now, a lot of Easter eggs and hat tips have been showing up in film & TV. ET’s kinfolk showing up in the background of Star Wars movies, C-3PO & R2D2 on the walls of scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, movie posters on the walls of the sets of other people’s films, etc. Generally those have nothing to do with forwarding the story being told.

Then there’s the issue of tasks that get outsourced. Something that means a lot to a set designer might not have any meaning at all to the director or producer. Sometimes actors put things on set that are meaningful to them, but are unconnected to the work itself.