HankStrong

Shame on me for taking this bait. I'll be quick and as succinct as possible. I disagree with you and I did not specifically claim YOU were a racist, nor did I call you one. Quite specifically correlation does not imply causation in this case. I do not believe this is racist because I do not agree with it. I believe that the vast bulk of the uproar over a black Little Mermaid is based on some degree of racism, even an unconscious bias sort of racism. I did not print you a specific badge that says "Hello, I'm a racist" on it or something. I do feel that racism is involved in this story, but I'm not labeling specific people as such. Another victory claim! Much like DJ Khalid, all you do is win! Stop changing the point. I did not claim the entire world was racist, nor that I see it everywhere. I am specifically talking about one movie, one character, and the reaction to that character. As a sidebar, it might be effective to learn the difference between infer and imply. I cannot infer something I said myself. However, I didn't imply it either. I said this directly without implying anything at all: However getting angry because of this casting choice isn't based in storytelling. It's based in not wanting a black actress in the role because she's not white. This sort of sounds like you're building a straw man fallacy attempt. My comments aren't that it is somehow OK to have an uproar about white people like Daniel Craig, but not people of other races. I think the info you provided about the blonde Bond uproar is weak on their part. Why should they care what color his hair is? It doesn't change the story in any way. Are you trying to agree with me or are you switching the conversation to trying to present a superficially similar (but not equal) version of what I'm saying to win again? Am I against a blonde Bond in this scenario of yours? I'm sure you'll be shocked to find out that I think Idris Elba would be AMAZING as James Bond. There is nothing inherent to the Bond story that requires him to be white. However, if you make James Bond a Brazilian special agent for whatever their agency is called (without Googling that I don't know) then you have completely changed the story. He's a British agent. Idris is British. That works. I know a lot of people are against that, too, but I'm sure it has nothing to do with the color of his skin to those folks. Bond just has an identity! (that's sarcasm) Again, I hang my head in shame for even replying. I shouldn't have taken the bait.

I'm not going to play in these politics threads and it is my intent that this will be my last comment here. I didn't lose an argument and call you a racist. I know it's popular now to just declare yourself a winner and expect it to be true, but we're not competing here. There is no reason The Little Mermaid can't be whatever skin color she is. There is nothing inherently white/redhead about a mermaid falling in love and giving up her voice to win him over. It makes ZERO difference to the story. If she is white, black, Asian, Hispanic, pale, dark, tan, it doesn't matter. The story doesn't change. That's the point. Anger or imaginary rage about her not being white with red hair is silly. Saying it's not how people remember the character is silly. Lots of people have played Batman, The Joker, Spider-Man, Superman, James Bond, Jack Ryan, Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, Catwoman, Lara Croft, Wonder Woman, Robin Hood, etc. You may have a favorite, but different actors bring different things to the role. You'd be really confused if you look at the Spiderverse because in different versions of that character, different people get bitten by the spider. Is it Gwen? Is it Miles? Is it Peter? Is it Peni? There are many movies where it does make a difference what color your skin is, what you look like, or what race you are. It's vital to the story. However getting angry because of this casting choice isn't based in storytelling. It's based in not wanting a black actress in the role because she's not white. Fake examples: Casting Jennifer Lopez as Harriet Tubman? Casting Danny DeVito as Abraham Lincoln? Jet Li as George W. Bush? Denzel Washington as FDR? Matt Damon as a slave in the American South in 1855? Those roles matter. Real example: Scarlett Johansson as the young Japanese woman Major in Ghost in the Shell was just wrong and made no sense. Racism. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, acts like a duck, looks like a duck, it's probably a duck.

Talking to you is like talking to my brother. If you tell him you like grapefruit within 5 minutes we've started talking about his landlady's new haircut, a pair of bowling shoes he owned in 1996, and a car ad he saw on TV at least 10 years ago. All because something about a grapefruit ties them all together in his head. It's exhausting.

Let's be fair. Mel Gibson's statements and rants are on tape. Denying that is crazy.

She's not described as white, nor a redhead in the original story. She doesn't even have a name. She comes from an underwater kingdom way out in the ocean and is only referred to as The Little Mermaid. Don't hide behind blatant racism by saying I'm rationalizing. I'm not. Pocahontas should be Native American because first she was real and second because of the story context. Lilo & Moana should be Polynesian (skin color varies greatly), Belle should be French (not British! Come on, that was insulting casting right there!), and Mulan should be Chinese. All because of story context. Breaking news: Humpty Dumpty wasn't ever described as an egg. Dracula could turn into a lot of things, not just a bat. Frankenstein's monster was yellow with long, flowing raven hair and beautiful teeth. Jack Reacher was a hulking 6'5" 250lb man with massive muscles and not Tom Cruise. Also of note, donkey & dragons can't have babies that look like flying donkeys that breathe fire.

This isn't the thread for it, but for the love of God I'd love for someone to show me some proof that a fictional race of creatures of mermaids must be one skin color or else they are "woke" or something. What other fictional races do we have to worry about skintone with? Is Bigfoot white or black under that fur? Can there be brown-skinned witches, ghouls, and wizards? What about elves, dwarves, or hobbits must they all be white?

I know nothing about politics over there, but there are a few chunks of real estate on the river side that are owned by the city and a couple of undeveloped lagoon properties. I'm specifically thinking down by the big Savior something church.

I'd imagine the whole marina's days are numbered. You don't become one of the world's premier cruise terminals and have huge areas of prime real estate taken by sailboats and yacht-lettes. There are plenty of watercraft in that marina that are way nicer than normal people could afford, but those aren't the mega-yachts of multi-billionaires either (check out Simpson Bay in St. Martin sometime) in the marina. I'd guess the empty parking lot area directly above the AIA in the picture above is the first spot to go, but that's just a guess. I see the new aquarium looks like it's going in at the West end of George King Blvd in that dirt pit touching the Banana River.

I wasn't extremely clear, but they both visit and homeport.

It looks like they've converted the old rails to greenway space, so probably not very likely. However, it is an amazing route. There is still track from the West side of The Villages to the South side of Wildwood. It looks like there may be track easement still along a lot of 44A and some of 44 from Wildwood to Leesburg that hasn't been converted. The stretch from Leesburg to Mt. Dora looks rough though.

I've stated for a long time than an OBX line between The Villages and downtown Orlando (AKA where all the best hospitals/doctors are) would be a massive boost for the entire train system.

I am somehow being attacked in this thread now? HAHAHAHAHAHA It's ok. I just wear them to work.

I feel like I should write up a report for the group about the closings of Porkies Original BBQ and Ace Cafe in the style of Spense. I could quote Scott Joseph's feelings on them and link Sentinel articles that are behind paywalls. I could suggest that instead of giving a Reader's Digest version of those articles, that you buy a subscription and also subscribe to Reader's Digest, if that still exists. I could mention how Porkies sits on the original site of some Seminole war meeting hall and how about 55 years ago a child found an axe making the front page of the paper. I could mention how Ace Cafe was the former site of Uncle Jimmy's Hardware Store & Stock Exchange. I could tell the tale of how when I was 6 my dad took me there for my first socket wrench and bought me a share of Tropicana stock. How once a man was shot there for reciting a poem by Lord Byron too loudly. Since I'm not Spense, they'd all be lies but I'd want them to be true like I believe his tales were. I could finish off with a jab at Buddy Dyer who I'm 99% sure already had his bulldozer at the site to knock everything down at a minute's notice.

That would be nice.

We went once before COVID and it wasn't good. I read the plea to get people to come back and it read like a dramatic/chaotic wonderland of a plea. I have a friend that loves it and goes all the time because she lives around the corner.