site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1790 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 1, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

So, what is everyone watching (films, shows, even YouTube if you think it counts)?

I've seen two movies recently:

  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017): This is the second Lanthimos film I've seen after Bugonia and Dogtooth, the former of which I loved and the latter of which was meh. KSD felt like it was awkwardly edgy and vague, but I very well may have missed the point. The actors did an excellent job of making me feel uncomfortable throughout. 4.2/10 enjoyment, give me those hours of my life back.

  • Train Dreams (2025): I've always enjoyed movies about everyday, simple lives (I don't have any others off the top of my head, but I know they exist). This one resonated with me because of a forest in my life, one that I half-seriously say I grew up in through mountain biking, trail running, airsoft battles, exploring, fort-building, and general elementary and teenage debauchery. 8.1/10 enjoyment, give me those years of my life back. I was a bit surprised everyone else's ratings were so high, though.

Decided my kids are old enough for Lord of the Rings, so we got started with that. We have the Extended version, which I've never watched before, and I found myself noticing that several scenes were actually made worse by the extra stuff added in. We're only one movie in so far, so I think we'll watch the theatrical version of the second one.

That's a very wild take. The extended editions of LOTR are by far the better versions, as there is a lot of the book which only exists in those extra scenes.

The book gets defiled even more in the extra scenes I've seen. The worst one that I've seen is the one with the Mouth of Sauron; instead of in the book, where the Mouth of Sauron has its intended effects on common folk like hobbits or random soldiers, the movie has the entire cast crestfallen and eating all of the Mouth of Sauron's propaganda full force. In the book, Gandalf calls his bluff and asks him to produce the hobbits, and when he snarls in response, dismisses him. In the movie, Aragorn gets so angry that he rides his horse up and then when he's past the line of sight of the Mouth of Sauron, heaves his great sword and decapitates him in a sneak attack full of rage. That last part is so incredibly far off from the way the book portrayed Aragorn that it's a total insult. If @HereAndGone2 is the same person as FarNearEverywhere, then she might have more to say...

That last part is so incredibly far off from the way the book portrayed Aragorn that it's a total insult.

Jackson's Aragorn has always been significantly different from his book counterpart though. Probably somewhat of a necessity if you don't want to get into details of his and Gondor's history (though they do bring in the Numenorean stuff in the Extended editions)

It actually affects what you think the themes of LOTR are. A lot of people take the One Ring to represent power as such which I think can be directly traced to the idea that Aragorn, the good king, doesn't want to be king unless it's pressed upon him by the most extreme circumstances. e end...

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats