(written by Terry MacNeil, on August 26-27, 2025)

The cover of my copy of the Starship Troopers novel proclaims it is “The Controversial Classic of Military Adventure”. What exactly is controversial about it? On that point, the novel does not explain itself – you (the reader) are left to figure that out on your own. If you’re not politically savvy, you can be forgiven for not realizing that the “controversy” – is that the novel is pro-fascist.

There are various fascists that appear throughout the novel, who go on (and on) about how great it is to live in a fascist society (as opposed to the weak, crime-ridden, and disordered “liberal-democracies” that collapsed in the 20th century). First, we encounter a frustrated fascist schoolteacher (who knows most of his fascist students aren’t absorbing what he’s preaching). Later, we meet various fascist military instructors and fascist officers in the military (who LOVE to preach about the blessings of fascism, as if the men they’re training/commanding either never learned a thing about fascism, or are too dumb to understand anything to do with “politics”). But of course, this is simply Heinlein’s way to preach to YOU – the reader. And he assumes the reader of his novel knows NOTHING about fascism, but hopes YOU will embrace fascism by the time you finish reading his novel.

So Heinlein was clearly a fascist – but was he a Nazi? Well, the fascist society he promoted in the novel was less racist (and less sexist) than Nazi Germany had been. However, there ARE a few quotes from the protagonist that sound like Nazi talking points (with regard to his views on “inferior” humans that are “less evolved” than other humans).

As for the insane cheesiness later in the novel – I was dumbfounded. Only a fascist could be moved by what the protagonist’s father does after the death of his wife – which absurdly (and unintentionally hilariously) brings fascist father and fascist son closer together than ever before.

Another main aim of Heinlein’s novel – was to turn the reader into an anti-Marxist (more specifically, an “anti-Big-C Communist”). So the fascist schoolteacher rants about the evils of Communism. He also makes hilariously uninformed criticism of Karl Marx’s analysis of capitalism in Das Kapital – which reveals Heinlein never read Marx’s book. So Heinlein’s novel refers to human Marxists of the past – and the main enemy of the human fascists of the future are extraterrestrial Arachnids. While most Arachnids are harmless Labourers, the Warrior Arachnids are super lethal. So OF COURSE, the Arachnids represent the Communist “hordes” of China – Heinlein seemed less fearful of white Communists during the Cold War.

I am reminded of a Youtuber from many years ago – I forget who it was, but many of his videos were about science-fiction. One video went on about how in the original Star Wars trilogy, “The Empire” was the “woke” and “Marxist” USSR (aka “The Evil Empire” as the scumbag Ronald Reagan put it). The Youtuber also claimed “The Rebel Alliance” was the “anti-woke” and “capitalist” USA. The Youtuber went on to brag (paraphrased) “I’ve read A LOT of books…” and I thought to myself “Yeah, and I bet every single one of those books had Star Wars or Star Trek in their titles”. Then a few years ago, I caught a video clip of George Lucas being interviewed. And in that clip, he explained that in Star Wars, much of it was inspired by the Vietnam War – and it was THE USA that represented “The Empire”, and the “Marxists” in THE VIETCONG and THE NORTH VIETNAMESE ARMY that represented “The Rebel Alliance”. Oh well. The truth hurts, if you’re a sci-fi buff AND a right-winger. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on August 15, 18, 2025)

Recently, I was at a pub with my brother and my Mom. After we left said pub, my brother said he was disappointed I didn’t hit on any of the waitresses. And I thought to myself “Maybe if our MOM wasn’t with us – and I sure as fuck wouldn’t want a smart-ass like you to be watching me either”. Although, many years ago, there was one time I asked out a (non-waitress) hot blonde at a friend’s house – but THAT DAY I waited until my Mom went to the car before I did the asking out (inside the friend’s house). Anyway, I recall two waitresses at that pub (that I had recently been at with my Mom and my brother) – both waitresses were half my age, and one had an AMAZING ass, and the other had a GREAT ass. I didn’t take notice of their tits, I am sorry to say (their asses were their best physical features). So their bodies were beautiful, as were their faces. Although, I probably needed to be AT LEAST a decade younger before I’d hit on them.

It’s funny, because I recall my university years – and back then it would seem like the end of the World if any female I planned on asking out wouldn’t immediately write back to me on MSN Messenger. Back then, it never dawned on me that LOTS of people would be signed into MSN Messenger all day – while being AWAY from their computer the vast majority of the time. I just assumed that any time I messaged anyone, the other person would ALWAYS be at their computer – and that if they didn’t respond IMMEDIATELY, I’d assume I was being DELIBERATELY ignored. Why did I think that? I blame it on a combination of naivety, untreated paranoid schizophrenia, social isolation, and dial-up internet. Oh well. Not long after Facebook was created, I no longer had that self-absorbed “Terry is the Centre of the World” assumption – and I no longer cared if someone would take weeks/months to write back to me. BUT I have some friends and acquaintances who incorrectly assume I haven’t “grown” or “matured” AT ALL in the last twenty years. They also assume I have a violent temper – although ALL of those people would have NO EVIDENCE of that in the last twenty years. It boggles my mind that friends who know me so well – are STILL worried I might physically harm people (because I am a schizophrenic, but also because I’m an anarchist). Well, reading the Wikipedia article on “Anarchism” is… not a good way to learn about anarchism (most people unfamiliar with anarchism would walk away from that article having WAY more questions than answers). Those friends would be better off asking ME to answer their questions about anarchism (a broad subject I know fairly intimately). But I digress.

I recall visiting my brother some years ago – and one day some friends of his came for a visit to his apartment. One dude had just recently been released from prison – and he sure looked like someone you wouldn’t want to mess with. That dude was very kind and respectful around me – something I don’t expect from most of my brother’s friends. And me and the dude engaged in “guy talk” about waitresses. He mentioned how expensive it is to hit on a waitress – as in, MOST dudes need to be a regular customer of the restaurant/bar/whatever, before we can even THINK of seducing or successfully asking out a waitress. I agreed, because the activity I observed at various restaurants/bars/whatever gave me that impression. Why had that dude been to prison? I don’t know, and I didn’t ask. Although my brother had said: “When that dude walks into a bar – everyone knows he’s there to fuck shit up.”

In closing, if I’m ever going to hit on a waitress – I’ll probably only hit on one if she’s hot AND in her thirties or forties (even if it’s the first time in my life I’ve ever seen her). Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on July 11-12, 14, 19, 2025)

I’m a slasher movie fan. And I love (for varying reasons) the first three Sleepaway Camp movies AND Return to Sleepaway Camp. However, the first three movies are (nowadays) controversial – because they are accused of being transphobic and homophobic.

Is Sleepaway Camp (the first film in the series) transphobic and homophobic? I say no, because the killer is cisgendered and FORCED by an adult to live as another gender. But is the movie homophobic? Well, it has no stance on homosexuality – despite featuring two gay adult male characters. Also, the campers make NO homophobic jokes/insults – which (in real-life) is unusual, for children of that age range. Though in a way, Sleepaway Camp foresaw the future of transphobia – there ARE a lot of anti-trans humans today who are CONVINCED cisgendered children are being FORCED to transition by their “woke” parents, as well as by other (so-called) “activists” (such as harmless drag queens who volunteer to read children’s books to children at libraries). These paranoid (and mostly right-wing) anti-trans humans see trans humans as being manipulated, brainwashed, mentally ill, etc. They ALSO absurdly paint (most, if not all) trans humans as child molesters, a danger/threat to cisgendered humans, etc.

So is Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers transphobic and homophobic? Well, this sequel retcons the first Sleepaway Camp – by saying the killer IS transgendered (despite not being so in the first film). So this sequel features a killer trans human who is unstable/insane/psychopathic – though I didn’t get the impression the movie paints ALL trans humans as unstable/insane. However, the killer in this film is more comfortable in a female body, than a male one – something that wasn’t the case in the first film. Also, this sequel (unfortunately) features homophobic remarks – which is par for the course, for a 1980s slasher film.

The debate around these movies reminds me of when the movie Batman Returns was released. After seeing that movie, I (a cisgendered heterosexual male) wanted to be “Catwoman” for Halloween. But my parents got me a “Batman” costume that Halloween, and I was cool with that. In retrospect, I would’ve been mercilessly ridiculed by my peers if I had been “Catwoman” – and likely marked as a homosexual and/or transvestite and/or transgendered. The thing was, “Catwoman” was so BAD ASS in Batman Returns – she could go toe to toe fighting “Batman” (and nearly killed him). She also got shot a bunch of times – then challenged the gunman to keep firing. Also, “Catwoman” was a villain – which (in my opinion) made her even more awesome.

When another “Batman” movie (The Dark Knight) was released years later, an adorable four-year-old(?) female child came to my house trick-or-treating (and she was dressed as “Batman”). But at that time – there weren’t many heroines (that would appeal to children) in movies, so it was common to see female children dress as male heroes for Halloween. And no one thought anything of it. But if she had been born a boy and dressed as a heroine…

The only time in my life I wore women’s clothing – was for “Slave Day” when I was in elementary school. “Slave Day” is a game where one person pretends to be a “slave” for a “master”. In my case, my “master” was a girl in my class – and she forced me to spend the day in women’s clothing and make-up, in addition to bossing me around all day. It was a miserable day.

As for Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor, it’s an unfinished film that was mostly old footage from the earlier films – which I HEAR is so bad, it makes Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (a film with a similarly shitty format) look like the most amazing movie ever filmed. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on June 27-29, 2025)

Let me be clear. There is NOTHING that could ever make me read “The 1957 Edition” of Jack Kerouac’s novel On the Road. Reading “The Original Scroll” (of On the Road) was bad enough. The cover of the published edition of “The Original Scroll” promises: “The legendary first draft – rougher, wilder, and racier than the 1957 edition”. Well, that ain’t saying much.

“The Original Scroll” is a juvenile (and boring) novel about Jack Kerouac and other irresponsible adults spending the little money they have travelling the country, and chasing skirts. When they aren’t travelling, they’re briefly shacked up with the women they’re currently banging. That said, I was surprised by how often they DIDN’T hitchhike (which is the way of travel I most respect).

But Kerouac made the HUGE mistake of assuming that everything he wrote (no matter how tedious) would result in a good novel. He drowns the reader in unimportant details – EXCEPT when it COMES to the sex scenes (this is when the novel leaves everything to the imagination). But I can’t complain about that – considering how often Kerouac (and various male friends of his) lust for (and bang) underage teenage girls. If the novel is to be believed, Kerouac wasn’t a pedophile – but he WAS an ephebophiliac. However, there are ALSO times where Kerouac’s writing makes him sound like a hebephiliac – considering he had WAY higher praise for the beauty of 13 and 14 year old girls, than he did for any adult female. In the World of Kerouac, it seems “girls under 18 are for one-night-stands, and any women over 20 are for marrying”. However, Kerouac mercifully did us all a favour and spared us detailed descriptions of the underage fucking.

And with regard to the countless unimportant details in “The Original Scroll”, how many times did we have to read a sentence or two about people who are introduced to Jack Kerouac – then (after the end of those two sentences) are never seen by him ever again?

As for the 2012 movie On the Road, it manages to be even more boring than the novel – which is an impressive feat, to be sure. Though I’m not certain whether the movie was supposed to be an adaptation of “The 1957 Edition” or “The Original Scroll” – or both.

The three most “memorable” (a term I use sarcastically) parts of the film – are Joan Vollmer simulating a blowjob, and a double handjob performed by a female on two males at the same time, and a homosexual man consenting to be sodomized. Needless to say, this is a very forgettable and unmemorable film.

To further illustrate my annoyance with the film, the movie shows Kerouac sit down beside Bea Franco on a bus – then all of a sudden (without any further detail) it immediately cuts to them working at a cotton field, and living together. Even though I wasn’t a fan of “The Original Scroll”, at least it explained Franco’s background and how they ended up living together. The movie doesn’t bother.

“Grooming” is something the men in “The Original Scroll” never actually bother to do – because of their short attention spans, impatience, and laziness. As far as an actual example of grooming (in fiction), I recently mentioned to a friend of mine that I heard “Xander” was in a relationship with “Dawn” in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics. And all my friend said, was “Ew.” He was then speaking for everyone who disapproves of the wish fulfillment of Joss Whedon. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on June 17-19, 22-23, 2025)

I think it was about a year ago that I read Jerry Seinfeld’s book SeinLanguage – a book that should’ve served as a warning to all of humanity that Seinfeld is not nearly as funny as he’s reputed to be. Well, he was the main star of the TV series Seinfeld – and also it’s co-creator. And I consider Seinfeld to be one of the most hilarious TV shows ever made. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that I learned what the actual job of a “creator” of a TV series is – as well as the amount of actual writing Seinfeld contributed to Seinfeld. Also, Seinfeld’s post-Seinfeld work (like Bee Movie, but especially Unfrosted) sure make him appear to be a talentless hack.

Speaking of Unfrosted, I watched that movie while drunk out of my mind last year – and the next day, I barely remembered any of it. One thing I did remember, was that I felt intense hatred for the film. So today, I rewatched Unfrosted – sober. And boy, do I ever regret that.

So Bee Movie had an anti-socialist message, but Unfrosted is so nakedly pro-capitalist – by comparison, it makes Bee Movie look as if it had been written by Marxists. Seinfeld seems to have this gross (and bizarre) nostalgia/affection for the Corporate America of the mid-twentieth century. That was pre-Vietnam War, and before the rise of the 1960s/1970s “New Left”. But most importantly – the early 1960s was the time of Seinfeld’s childhood. It’s clear he’s one of those reactionaries that wants to go back to the America of the 1950s – a more “innocent” time of unapologetic racism, sexual harassment, anti-feminism, anti-Communism, anti-LGBTQIA+, etc.

Seinfeld, who has long been publicly upfront that he’s a fanboy of the Apartheid State of Israel (ASOI) – also loves to collaborate with the mass murderous Israeli Defence Force (IDF) for PR stunts. So Seinfeld loves to make “state terrorists” look good – as long as they’re Jewish (and paranoid)! That said, I’m willing to cut every Jew on Earth some slack – for the last several thousand years of World history that they suffered under. I mean, in terms of the entire history of the World – the Holocaust wasn’t so long ago. So I can see why so many of the World’s Jews are paranoid – and see danger everywhere (even where it’s non-existent). BUT citing “the Holocaust” or “anti-Semitism” or “they want to genocide us” as excuses to commit ethnic cleansing and/or a genocide of your own SHOULD BE UNACCEPTABLE to EVERYONE.

There is the clip that went viral, of an amusing dude asking Seinfeld to say “Free Palestine” for the camera. Then Seinfeld (notoriously) said “I don’t care about Palestine” and walked away. I’m not 100% certain what Seinfeld meant by that – because he clearly cares a great deal about Israel. Is Seinfeld saying he doesn’t care about Palestinians being mass murdered by the IDF? Is Seinfeld saying he opposes a two-state solution? Well, if anyone were to ask Seinfeld to clarify his statement – I doubt we’d ever get an honest answer from him.

In hindsight, I would say Seinfeld CAN be funny – but ONLY when someone else writes material for him to deliver. And I would say that’s the reason Seinfeld was able to deliver such a genuinely hilarious performance as “Jerry Seinfeld” in the TV series Seinfeld (and I am also convinced that 95% of the personality of the detestable “Jerry Seinfeld” character was based on that of the real-life Jerry Seinfeld – so I’m convinced Seinfeld was largely portraying himself). As for the book SeinLanguage – that seems to me to have been entirely written by Seinfeld himself, judging by how unfunny it is. Well, I did laugh at the brief part in the book where he wrote about airplanes crashing, and airplanes that explode on take-off. But that was it. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on May 31, June 5-10, 2025)

As far as my movie taste goes – I would be most accurately described as a “gorehound”. And yes, “old school” movies with lots of gore (and/or characters being relentlessly terrorized by psychopaths) are among my most cherished films. BUT some of my OTHER most cherished movies – are romance films. And I say that, as someone who considers the VAST MAJORITY of romance movies to be absolutely awful and shitty.

After recently reading Kate Beaton’s graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, I concluded I find graphic memoirs more enjoyable to read than standard text only memoirs. Well, in the case of Craig Thompson’s graphic memoir Blankets – if it had been a text only autobiography, I highly doubt I would’ve ever read it (for instance, the book’s back cover made it sound like more than a few romance movies I’ve seen). However, if Ducks had been a text only memoir – I still would’ve made reading it a priority (because of what’s covered in the book). Anyway, after hearing Beaton’s high praise for another of Thompson’s graphic memoirs (the one titled Ginseng Roots: A Memoir), I figured I ought to give Blankets a chance – even though I couldn’t imagine a more lame title for your graphic memoir. And not even a subtitle?

After reading Blankets from cover-to-cover, my main takeaway – is that the book is a detailed testimony of the author’s PAIN. Well, not physical pain – I mean deep mental/emotional pain. Thompson had a HORRIBLE childhood – due to poverty, bullies, molestation, and religion. Specifically Christian. More specifically Evangelical Christian. And even more specifically Baptist. My family certainly weren’t Catholic fanatics, but when I was a teenager – I took Catholicism WAY too fucking seriously. So I can relate to Thompson in that way, even though he wasn’t Catholic (and he was WAY more obsessed with religion than I had been).

Something most romance movies can’t get right – is displays of affection that look/feel GENUINE between the actors and/or actresses. In the case of Blankets, we have a cartoonist whose drawings of the two lovers displaying affection – often moved me. I also loved it when “Raina” sings The Cure’s AWESOME song “Just Like Heaven” to Thompson. So it’s clear Thompson is looking back with longing. I kinda know that sentiment – though I’ve never had a lover. I just have a bad habit of looking back mournfully on my youth (which I wasted). There’s various reasons I became an anarchist – one is sadness over my past (as strange as that sounds).

Also, when a romance movie is of two lovers who have known each other from childhood, grow up together, then become romantically involved as adults – that’s possibly my favourite kind of storyline I love to see in a romance movie. Well, Blankets is of two lovers who are in high school when they first meet – and their romance is deeply moving, though tragic (one lover hopes for more from their romance than the other wants). I’ve been a recluse most of my life – so I pretty much only know women that I’ve known since my childhood. However, those women (as far as I can tell) are focused on their future – and I am only an acquaintance from their past. Clearly, I REALLY need to hit the dating websites WAY more often.

After reading Blankets, I was able to see the importance various blankets had in various stages of Thompson’s life – so NOW I say it’s the PERFECT title for his graphic memoir. Blankets is sad. But I hope Thompson will one day have a “cliched romance movie happy ending” – if he hasn’t already. I hope the same for his first lover, “Raina”. Fingers crossed! Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on May 16, 20, 27, and June 5, 8, 2025)

I avoid reading superhero comic books, for the same reason I avoid watching professional wrestling – I was once a HUGE fan of both, and I don’t want to become addicted to either again. The main reasons, is that being a superhero comic book collector is INCREDIBLY expensive (and time consuming), and being a professional wrestling fan requires watching WAY TOO MUCH televised programming (though I always found the villainous wrestlers hilariously antagonizing the audience to be WAY more entertaining than the actual “wrestling”). But I recently decided to make an exception for the collections of The Mask comics – mainly because there weren’t many of them made (and I was curious to see how they compared to the movies).

In the 1994 movie The Mask, the actor Jim Carrey portrays the meek/unconfident/unassertive protagonist – who is completely inept around women. So the protagonist is supposed to embody the saying “nice guys finish last” (a saying that is rarely true in real-life). When he puts on “the mask”, he acquires godlike superpowers. But more importantly – when the protagonist wears “the mask”, he is the confident and suave person he always dreamed of being. But it must be emphasized – the protagonist, deep down, is kind-hearted. And that is reflected in what he does while wearing “the mask”. Overall, I consider The Mask to be a children’s movie – that I enjoyed as a child, and am (much to my surprise) still able to enjoy as an adult.

In the various (R-Rated) comic miniseries of The Mask, there are various protagonists that end up wearing “the mask”. But the first (and most infamous) protagonist to wear “the mask” in the comics, is a meek/unconfident/unassertive dude – though it must be emphasized, he is also a bitter, hate-filled misanthropist. Deep down, the protagonist is NOT kind-hearted – and fantasizes about violently punishing everyone who has ever wronged him. So when the protagonist puts on “the mask” – he acquires godlike superpowers. But more importantly – when the protagonist wears “the mask”, he is the psychopath he always dreamed of being. Since the protagonist, deep down, is such a rotten guy – when he wears “the mask” he becomes an out of control mass murderer, sadist, and cop killer. Since the protagonist is immortal as long as he wears “the mask” – he treats the rest of the World the way he always dreamed of treating it. Unlike the protagonist, most teenage misanthropists grow out of their misanthropy before (or during the early years of) adulthood – and evolve into genuinely nice/caring people. That said, I was a misanthropist into my thirties. Oh. There’s one element in the comics I enjoyed more than the violence, and it’s that the longer you wear “the mask” – the more of YOUR SANITY you lose! Too bad everyone goes back to “normal” when they take off “the mask”. I wish they became PERMANENTLY insane and deranged even when “the mask” is taken off!

And yeah, I also heard there are comics in The Mask franchise that were inspired by The Mask children’s TV cartoon (said cartoon having been inspired by the 1994 movie). Well, I hated that cartoon in my childhood – and I sure as fuck don’t want to waste my time reading G-Rated comics inspired by THAT DRECK.

As for a future movie in The Mask franchise? I want Jim Carrey portraying the protagonist – but this film exists in an alternate universe, where he is an aging and bitter misanthropist. Also, the film is R-Rated – and just as violent/gruesome as the R-Rated comics.

As for the 2005 movie Son of the Mask – the nearly universally despised sequel to the 1994 film? NO COMMENT – except FUCK THAT SHIT MOVIE. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on May 20, 2025)

If Bill Cosby had not been exposed as a sex criminal, most people who read Love and Marriage (especially if they were fans of The Cosby Show) would incorrectly regard it as a “heartwarming” book. Knowing what we know now, this book shall forever live in infamy.

The book begins with Alvin F. Poussaint’s introduction. He’s a man who died a few months ago, though we all know his greatest life regret – had to be writing the introduction of this book. To quote Poussaint: “Cosby humorously recalls coming of age, marked by his first wet dream. He tells of trying to hide the evidence of his new manhood from his parents by hurriedly washing his sheets, and of being discovered – to his great chagrin.” As for me (Terry), I don’t remember my first wet dream. All I know is, I didn’t change my sheets – because I didn’t care if my parents knew I was having nocturnal emissions, and the thought of lying in my own dried semen didn’t bother me. Although, since it was left to my Mom to change the sheets on my bed every so often (when I was a teenager) – I presume she was grossed out by my crusty sheets.

As for Cosby’s actual book, he mentioned something he and I have in common – we both have long eyelashes. As a child, I recall countless adults commenting on my eyelashes – and saying they wish they had MY eyelashes. Back then, I found the topic embarrassing. But as an adult, I simply think “Well, I don’t have a masculine face – so I may as well accept that I’m a beautiful man.” But I digress.

In the early part of his book (covering his teenage years), Cosby writes (over and over) about glands, and his awkward attempts to woo girls (his own age). I found that a little peculiar, because when I was in junior high – I only had eyes for the high school girls. Then when I was in high school, the girls my own age were only interested in boys older than me. Oh well. I was too clinically insane (and afraid) to court anyone back then. But I digress.

As Cosby’s book moves on to his adult years, he reveals that he was nowhere near as nice as the fictional father he portrayed on The Cosby Show. One of the more memorable Cosby lines: “Paying back the person with whom you have recently been in love is one of life’s most precious moments”. To be clear, he is here referring to revenge. And keep in mind, that is a 52-year-old Bill Cosby’s words – not those of a dumb teenager.

And the rest of Cosby’s book, covers the years of his, uh, “happy” marriage. These chapters amount to little more than transcripts of unamusing arguments he had with his wife. A reader of this book will find not a word of good advice about “love” or “marriage” in its pages, which is to be expected from a book written by a serial rapist.

In my opinion, Cosby has a gift for humour – though it doesn’t translate into the written word. From what I recall, he needed to be SPEAKING to be funny – like when he’d go into “cranky old man mode” (when being interviewed on late night talk shows), or into “cheerful kid-at-heart mode” (when hosting the TV show Kids Say the Darndest Things). I guess that’s why he was a stand-up comedian (something I’ve never actually seen him do). Although, many white right-wingers had a special place in their heart for Bill Cosby – because of his incessant need to shit on young black males. So it seems Cosby’s a guy who likes to punch down.

That said, perhaps the most telling excerpt from the book – is when Cosby wrote “I realized how important it is for each partner in a marriage to make adjustments. One of mine is agreeing to live in a minimum security prison.” Oh, if only. Ⓐ

(written by Terry MacNeil, on May 6, 9, 12-13, 2025)

In my high school years, I (as I often say) was terrified to socialize with my peers (I was too psychotic, depressed, and anxiety ridden) so I’d spend my weekends watching The Showcase Revue (on TV) with my father. And he would give me one or two beer a night, which I would sip astronomically slowly – and watch indie movies (mostly foreign). And he would reveal certain details of his past – though I later heard there was a fair amount he kept quiet.

Although, before that became our routine – back in high school I noticed a Pedro Almodóvar Spanish movie called Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was going to be on The Showcase Revue, and was listed as having the highest level of sexual content (for Showcase) – so I made sure I watched it one night (by myself). The sexual content/nudity was indeed explicit – though in retrospect, could have harmed naive/impressionable viewers (if they saw nothing wrong with what the protagonist did in that film). After my Dad heard I watched that movie by myself, he was pissed – and committed himself to watching movies like that with me. He was deeply fearful that teenage males who watch movies like Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! might try to imitate what they see onscreen (and/or see nothing wrong with what the male protagonist did).

Well, there are laws against adults watching pornography with underage teenagers – for good reason. But with the way internet porn is these days – underage teenage males are consuming vast amounts of incredibly misogynistic porn, without any kind of adult supervision. So I’m unsurprised so many teenage males consume porn, and think THAT is how people fuck. And that the advice from scum like Andrew Tate is how men should treat women. As a consumer of porn myself, I consider the most soul-crushing element of porn videos – to be what the male AND female pornstars SAY during the videos. Typically, the male pornstar verbally degrades the female he is having sex with – and the female pornstar verbally degrades herself. To the credit of BOTH my parents – they carefully raised me to NEVER be a misogynist. But I digress.

One of my fondest memories, was the first time I saw Apocalypse Now – specifically the part when some dudes tossed a severed head at the protagonist. When that happened in the movie – my father jumped out of his skin, but I barely flinched (even though I regarded it as a genuinely horrifying moment in the film). And then my Dad was angered/embarrassed by his reaction, and said to me “So if someone cut off my head, and threw it on your lap – what would you do?” I don’t remember what I said, but I think I laughed.

Another fond memory, was watching The Devils – during the part where an inquisitor said (paraphrased) “Blood from the tongue! This is proof he’s a witch!” And my Dad felt the need to tell me “That’s not true.”

Also, Videodrome (with brief interview of special guest David Cronenberg), a movie I hated the first time I saw it – just because it was so bizarre. But that’s the normal teenage reaction to a movie like that – and when I re-watched it in my late-twenties, I loved it.

When I was in junior high, my Dad showed Reservoir Dogs (which he owned on VHS) to me and my brother. When it ended, I said “This is the best movie EVER!” Then my Dad (paraphrased) said “Don’t say that! Only a weirdo would say that’s their favourite movie.” In my early twenties, my Dad assumed I only liked “weird” movies – though he’d be partly to blame for my taste in films. That’s the same guy who assumed everyone he labelled “weird” was a bad person – until I was in high school. Having a weirdo son (who was also one of his best friends) forced him to reassess the way he judged people. I recall him saying to me “You’re weird. But I like you.” And I thought something like “Well, at least you’re not going to kick my head in – unlike lots of the weirdos you encountered in your past.” That said, I’ll always miss him. RIP. Ⓐ