site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2329 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 28, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Gosling's intense sincerity felt weird and off for a movie with such a simple, "normie" plot.

The only part of his acting that I liked in the movie was him doing the figurative belly crawl before and during the very first car flip scene. You could feel the patheticism? patheticness? patheticity? (it was certainly not pathos!) radiate from the screen every time he opened his mouth to talk about his crush.

I feel Gosling needs to be more careful with his movie choices, because he might end up with the same problem that ruined Nicolas Cage's reputation in the general public: both actors tend to act their heart out in every situation. Doing that even for scripts and direction that don't demand, or more frankly don't deserve it makes the actor look cringe, unhinged, and gives a poor impression of their acting chops, even though they actually went above and beyond.

OTOH, that could lead to a Gosling-based Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent-style movie. So we'd have that going for us. Heck, I think I'd have to go see it just to see what they did with it!

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