Just… wow.

Here’s a bizarre psychological syndrome: the person wants his arm removed.

(…)

But sometimes you come across a syndrome where you cannot quite know for sure if this is a legit syndrome or not, even though you can find it in the bible of clinical psychologists called DSM, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, which is the official book for clinicians. If they can label you, give your syndrome a name, they can charge you, charge an insurance company, so there has been a tendency to multiply syndromes.

 There’s one called, by the way, Chronic Underachievement Syndrome, which in my day used to be called stupidity. It actually has a name and it’s officially recognized.

Then there is a syndrome called De Clerambault Syndrome. De Clerambault Syndrome refers to, believe it or not, a young woman developing an obsession with a much older, famous, eminent, rich guy and develops the delusion that that guy is madly in love with her but is in denial about it. This is actually found in a textbook of psychiatry, and I think it’s complete nonsense.

Ironically, there’s no name for the converse of the syndrome where an aging male develops a delusion that this young hottie is madly in love with him, but is in denial about it. Surely, it’s much more common and yet it doesn’t have a name. Right?

The other night, we watched Escape from L.A. (for some reason. Masochism…?) and it was all there, just as it was in Chinatown and Sunset Blvd. and Kiss Me Deadly and Grand Canyon and…

And yet, L.A. remains, albeit just barely.

Anyway, here’s an excerpt from my look back at Falling Down, inspired by the pending release of Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America:

With a buzzcut you could set your clock by, white short-sleeved dress shirt, tie and wimpy pocket protector, Douglas’s iconic physical appearance in this movie – it’s been “name checked” numerous times since (see The Simpson’s ill-fated Frank “Grimey” Grimes) – was presumably styled to remind the viewer of both Bernard Goetz and Charles Whitman. (…)

People misremember Falling Down as having a higher body count than it actually does. Foster kills one despicable character in self-defense; his other “victims” are merely shook up — as is Foster himself, who doesn’t exactly retain expert control over his unwieldy weaponry. (…)Yes, Douglas’ character is a VERY angry guy. But there’s nothing terribly “conservative” about, say, complaining about the price of a can of Coke, or inherently “right wing” about bitching that fast food employees aren’t supposed to serve breakfast after a certain time.

Yes, such stringent regulations seem petty and even arbitrary, and have certainly contributed to the increase of cynicism and the general breakdown of social trust and cooperation. However, if you subtract the automatic weapons, Foster’s tantrum in the restaurant — while obviously designed to echo two still-fresh massacres at Luby’s and McDonald’s — wouldn’t be out of place in the lyrics of “Alice’s Restaurant” or the faux-hippie anthem “Signs.” (…)

***
Alas, I forgot to squeeze in a comparison of the “surplus store” scene in Falling Down with the pawn shop sequence in Pulp Fiction.

Another time.

PS: this is from the comments:

Like George C. Scott’s performance in “Patton” — where the negative, anti-war vibe he and Francis Ford Coppola wanted to get across somehow ended up with Vietnam-era audiences sympathizing with the title character instead of being repulsed by his hyper-militarism — what Schumacher and Douglas intended the movie to say to audiences of 1993 may not have been what it said to all of them, but the same desire to demonize conservatives that is in play today was the driving force behind the movie. That’s where the “tea party” reference comes from; Schumacher hated his title character.

Goldthwait’s movie may end up with the same sort of “stick it to the right” ethos, but given its protagonists targets are in large part creations of the culture of the left, he’s either going to have to do some incredibly annoying pretzel logic to show conservatives are behind today’s irritating pop culture, or he”s going to have to craft a totally nihilist “to hell with everybody” movie in order to avoid getting on the wrong side of the current culture wars.

…having known the sting of prejudice themselves, harbor no ill will toward African-Americans.

But…

***
We’ve heard this before.

She was immediately targeted by cyber bullies and her Facebook and Twitter accounts were deluged with cruel comments. (…)

The online hate campaign became  so bad that she was forced to  call police.

“I always hated pictures of myself as a youngster but three years ago I felt confident enough to post them on Facebook.

‘Then I started getting this abuse. I couldn’t believe it. It was so personal and nasty, and targeted directly at something that has affected me throughout my life.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: ‘A report was made to us on January 8 regarding messages received through Facebook and Twitter. An officer spoke to a person alleged to have sent messages regarding their actions.’

Just imagine the lawsuit!

RELATED: Obama moves to cut funds to armed pilots program

Who better to front Trailers from Hell’s 700th trailer than industry legend Roger Corman, without whom numerous contributors to this site might be selling insurance for a living…

And managed to make dozens of films that all turned a profit –without applying for a single government arts grant.

Oddly enough!

PLUS? The poor are incredibly stupid.

Why DON’T you have a bank account?

I grew up below the poverty line and have had the same account with the same bank since I was 8 years old.

You should have planned your life a little better.

My mother was one of those poor people who instinctively aspired to act middle class even if she could never be middle class.

Being middle class meant having a bank account.

I’m sorry your mother wasn’t as smart as my mother, but the thing is:

My mother REALLY wasn’t very smart. At all. So…

ALSO?

I don’t think it’s fair that poor people do not pay taxes. I work hard, I do not use social services, emergency rooms, food stamps, nor do I burden the public school system. Why should I pay almost all the taxes? It’s just not fair.

It costs my city, state, and country less to protect me than to protect people in the ghetto. There are less fires or incidents requiring the police in my neighborhood than in poor areas. Why should I pay more for fire, police, medical, or social services when I hardly require any of them at all? That’s like asking me to pay for food that fat people gorge themselves on while I eat moderately. It’s just not fair.

Poor people put the greatest burden on our country and pay nothing. They fill our schools with their numerous children, fill our hospitals with their crack-whores and drive-by shootings, remove food from grocery shelves using my tax monies, and live the American dream while crying that I’m not paying my fair share of taxes. It’s just not fair.

If we didn’t tax people like me so heavily, if we eliminated the egregious corporate tax (the second highest in the world), there would be more money available for investment, more jobs and consequently more people working and thus less poor people, who are a blight on our nation. That would be fair.

 I’m a longtime listener and evangelist/fan of both Howard Stern and Adam Carolla, and this season’s cast includes a constellation of celebrities that are tied to one or both of these radio/podcasting legends…

When the Ace Man himself deemed to take part in this season’s proceedings (after frequently poking fun of The Don Trump over the years, no less), my interest instantly perked up in this season. And he didn’t disappoint in the season premiere – in fact, I think he made more of his limited camera time than anyone I can remember in Apprentice history …

(And here’s the t-shirt.)

***
Talking about censorship in Canada.

How to watch.

So now we have this story, which is multi-level awesome. Behold:

• Mother of Jude Law’s kid can’t read, apparently.
• Or doesn’t care too.
• Neither can the kid.
• Jude Law not around to read stuff, either, but suddenly very concerned about daughter’s public image
• Kid paraded in public but now Law wants her face pixilated
• DM agrees (!) day after publishing non-pixilated pix.
• Jude Law’s kid gets free clothes but your’s don’t
• Oh, and the ecstasy tablet on the floor thing is a nice touch.

Add your own!

We’re appealing to our audience right now,” said Lange in the clip quoted on The Ed Show. “We want the most offensive, hacky, Lin-type joke that you can think of.”

“We can’t do them, but you can,” said DiPaolo.

Artie Lange then offered an example:

“Something like,…Anthony’s going to take over for Lin–not at point guard, but he’s going to take over the laundry for Lin. You know, that type of awful stereotype. We want the most offensive joke.”

***
In the course of making racial slurs against Lin, KNBR’s team also attacked Woody Allen’s wife Soon-Yi Previn for, in their view, being insufficiently demonstrative when accompanying her husband to Knick games.

Nick or Artie made a crack about how Ms. Previn did not appreciate the United States and should recall that she could be back in the heat of the Philippines—-Soon-Yi Previn is a native of South Korea, but for these race mongers I guess all Asian countries are the same.

It wasn’t always like this. The “Checkers” speech, with its low-key, almost sunny defiance, is a kinescope relic. Today, Nixon’s office would’ve issued a weasel-worded statement – and given back the dog. (…)

(Is anyone else beginning to suspect that GLAAD’s well-oiled outrage machine is just a Heath Robinson device designed to lure rough trade into their offices?) (…)

If anyone out there has some a Grand Unified Theory of 21st Century Contrition, tracing the origin of this latter-day (and decidedly un-American) predilection, do tell.

Sitting here wracking my brain, I remembered seeing a copy of the official apology for Kent State on the US edition of the Antiques Roadshow. I didn’t think anybody apologized for anything in the 1970s, and indeed, the brief document doesn’t absolve the protesters of partial responsibility.

With my mind on the 1970s,  I think I figured it out…