TheBanyanTree: The State of My World as of Thursday Afternoon

[Stew Young]

The State of My World as of Thursday Afternoon

Some days are like this.

Most of my social outlet comes via a computer screen. Truth be told, it has
for a large chunk of my life. I got my first modem when in 1983 at the
tender age of 12. Except for a few periods when I didn't have the cash for
internet access, I've been on message boards, chat rooms, and emailing
people for two-thirds of my life.

If the World Wide Web is the "information super highway" then I cut my teeth
during the "Lewis and Clark" expedition of telecommunications. Remember when
modems were graded by "baud"? I spent $300 on a 300 baud modem. I'm old
school. I like to think nothing can surprise me when it comes to the
politics and shenanigans of message boards and various forums.

These days I spend most of my online activity on Liberty Post and IMDb.
Liberty Post is a political forum that caters to a libertarian crowd. It
bends a little conservative at times, but there is no love for Bush or the
GOP on this site. There's also a lot of distrust of the various flavors of
Clinton and the DNC. By and large the crowd feels that both parties have
been co-opted by big business, and they're two heads of the same coin.

IMDb is the Internet Movie Database. If you're ever watching a movie, and
you see a minor character and you can't quite place him, IMDb is what you
need. You type in the name of the movie (or TV show) and it'll list all the
cast members. You can then click on the person you are wondering about and
it'll give you the filmography of that actor. Well, they also have message
boards where you can go in and discuss (pro or con) your favorite movies, TV
shows, actors, directors, writers, best boy grips, etc.

Most of the time I stay above the fray in these forums. I've had my share of
flame wars in the past, and don't really need to get involved in the high
drama that these forums can create. I just zoom in, read arm chair analysis
of different things, post my pithy comments, and zoom out. At least that's
what I try to do.

Today – everywhere I went, somebody wanted to engage me.

There was a thread on Liberty Post this morning about how ADD/ADHD meds were
causing heart problems in kids. The general consensus at Liberty Post about
meds is that they're not necessary, and big pharma is part of the problem
with America. I knew that going in, but the thread only had four replies. I
figured it hadn't gotten out of hand yet, and maybe I can throw out some off
handed comment about how medications have helped me out.

The owner of Liberty Post had posted a comment that seemed off track. She
was talking about statins and how statins can ruin your life. And by all
means, DO NOT TAKE STATINS.

(It was in ALL CAPS).

I figured with such a dire warning, our dearly beloved moderator must have a
medical training. So I asked, innocently enough, "Where did you obtain your
medical degree?"

Seemed like a logical question to me. Here she is dispensing medical advice
(on a political forum). But nope. To her it was the opening salvo of a
rather touch subject, because her response to me was:

"Go ahead and take statins. Suffer. Die. See if I care. Jerk."

I was taken aback. "Jerk?" I didn't think that was very nice at all. So I
responded with. "Hey… you're the one dispensing medical advice. If my doc
prescribed statins, I'd probably take 'em. I'm sure not going to stop taking
them based on some anonymous person on the internet."

She has yet to reply back.

My second story:

On IMDb I've become a frequent poster on the "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"
forum. For the record, I find the show to be entertaining, but it hasn't
lived up to its potential. With Aaorn Sorkin at the helm; with a cast
containing Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet, and Bradley Whitford; with a gorgeous
set; and with a production budget of $3 mil an episode, "Studio 60" should
have blown away the competition. It didn't. It had (in my opinion) moments
of brilliance in between layers of mediocrity. It didn't have the same charm
that Sorkin's other TV shows (Sports Night and West Wing) had. It was, in a
nutshell, good, but not good enough.

Recently, TV journalists from America, Canada, and the UK have written about
the demise of "Studio 60". (For those who didn't know, "Studio 60" was to go
on hiatus the first week in March. The ratings have been so bad for the show
that NBC pushed up the hiatus date one week, and haven't announced a return
date. It hasn't been officially canceled yet, but one can read the
handwriting on the wall.)

Most of the users on the "Studio 60" message boards are, in fact, very
pro-"Studio 60." Even pro-Aaron Sorkin. Nauseatingly so. For some of these
people it's as if Sorkin is a god whose every word is meant to be
worshipped. The message boards at time become an echo chamber of sycophants.


And then there's maxtheanonymousmoose. Max hates Sorkin. Max hates "Studio
60". Max isn't afraid to let you know that. And most of the time he gives
reasons. (He finds Sorkin to be a pompous ass. He finds the shows to be
unfunny, contrived, and boring.)

During the past week when the TV journalists were breaking the news that
"Studio 60"s hiatus was moved up a week, Max delighted in rubbing it in the
fans faces. He would post links to the latest article and write
"hahahahahaha". Pure fun for a critic of the show and the creators of the
show.

Well, it wasn't long before the fans got their feelings hurt and started
calling Max a troll – or worse. People would start whole threads of
"anti-Max" spiels. Pretty soon, a few days ago, the majority of the posts
were either to Max, from Max, or about Max. And the anti-Max contingent were
pretty mean and nasty.

So, I posted a defense of Max. I said, in essence, that even though Max
bashed Sorkin and the show, he never posted a disparaging remark against the
fan base personally. However, Max has had to deal with personal insults of
varying degrees. I also mentioned that I'm sure Sorkin is a big enough man
to be able to deal with some criticism of his show without needing a fan
base to defend him.

My response back was rather mean spirited. And in the end it said something
to the effect of "suck this, Max." I thought he made my point for me, better
than I could have made it myself.

In the end, I realize all this is pretty petty and inconsequential. Tomorrow
I'll get up and interact with these same people again in some form or
another.

Welcome to a little slice of my life.