Linky Friday: Blood and Guts

Andrew Donaldson

Born and raised in West Virginia, Andrew has been the Managing Editor of Ordinary Times since 2018, is a widely published opinion writer, and appears in media, radio, and occasionally as a talking head on TV. He can usually be found misspelling/misusing words on Twitter@four4thefire. Andrew is the host of Heard Tell podcast. Subscribe to Andrew'sHeard Tell Substack for free here:

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23 Responses

  1. jason says:

    Bl7: I always have to laugh when someone starts lamenting the gore of modern entertainment. It’s like they haven’t read The Illiad or The Odyssey. I mean there’s descriptions of one of the Greeks (Achilles, I think) spearing Trojans and flinging them to the ground like fisherman would do to fish. Or how Odysseus slaughters his wife’s suitors and the servants have to sweep the blood and limbs away.Report

    • pillsy in reply to jason says:

      Also who thought Avengers: Infinity War was gory? It wasn’t even particularly brutal by PG-13 standards.

      Also also, why did they go to Greek mythology and Prometheus when it’s not like Loki wound up being bound by entrails with venom dripping into his eyes….Report

    • LeeESq in reply to jason says:

      I once showed a friend of mine the Fritz Lang movie M. This friend is a slasher movie fan. His reaction to M was “Damn it Lee, this movie is real scary not fake scary.” Most audiences really don’t want real fear and real gore in their movies. They want something tamer, that won’t keep them up at night.Report

      • Jaybird in reply to LeeESq says:

        The movie From Dusk Till Dawn attempted some kind of commentary, I guess, by having Quentin Tarantino direct the first half and Robert Rodriguez direct the second half.

        The first half involved (among other things) a hostage situation and, moments later, the hostage ends up getting killed (off camera) in a way that was pretty messed up. The entire first half of the movie seemed designed to make you feel queasy that you were watching this sort of thing for entertainment.

        The second half was a pretty damn good vampire/splat movie, though.Report

  2. Road Scholar says:

    In1: One time I was sent to an address in Las Vegas to pick up an empty trailer. Turns out it was a data center, at least partially still under construction. Contra this article the place was built like a fortress. Twenty foot high walls topped with razor wire, massive power lines feeding into its own substation, and serious security. I pulled up to the gate, the wrong one as it turned out but that was the address I was given, and announced myself at the callbox. Told the guy why I was there and he’s all like, you can’t just come in here and look around.

    Okay??

    Next thing I know a couple guys show up in a black Humvee, they’re all dressed in black and carrying sidearms, and proceed to give me the serious stink-eye, demanding ID and questioning what the hell I think I’m doing there.

    Finally gets sorted out and they escort me to the back construction entrance. Another round of ID and sign in and the whole time I’ve got an escort dressed in black with a sidearm while I find the trailer, hook up, and finally leave.

    I’ve made deliveries to prisons and military bases and the security was never like that.Report

  3. Oscar Gordon says:

    BL9: I am always impressed by how effective command & control links are at force multiplication. I am also always impressed by how much ammunition and ordinance a battle will consume before it ends. Between the ammo, the fuel, and the wear & tear on vehicles and equipment, that battle probably literally set on fire tens of millions of dollars.Report

    • You are right on both counts. The “burn rate” on expendables is incredible during a running fight like that. The Combat Controllers referenced in the article don’t get the press other special forces do, but they are among the most valuable. They will be getting more attention in two weeks when Chapman gets his posthumous and long overdue Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony on the 22nd.

      I’d love to write up the whole Deir al-Zour thing but others more able have done so elsewhere. We told them over and over again, “Stay on the west bank of the Euphrates.” Wagner Group finally talked someone in the Russian chain of command to test that line, and you see what happened. You wont see that again, at least for a while. Russia is trying to project power and demo their weapons systems for sale, having their proxy troops get their clock cleaned is bad a bad look for both.Report

  4. LeeEsq says:

    B7: Freddie De Boer had a similar reaction to the limitations of superhero movies. He pointed out that the need to get a PG-13 rating keeps them from really exploring adult themes like sex to any degree. My argument is that most people don’t want Grimdark superhero movies. Its why most DC movies get lambasted. What people want is Late Silver/Early Bronze age movies. Serious but not too serious.Report

  5. Oscar Gordon says:

    GU6: A somewhat common theme in SciFi is how there are very interesting molecules and isotopes inside some of the more energetic stars out there, or among their remnants, or how the energy of a star can be used to create such things on demand (I recall a short story where one way the 1% gambled their money was by placing bets on the products and amounts created when a company exposed things to a given star).Report

  6. Michael Cain says:

    Since spilling blood is a topic… there are a number of ongoing emergency blood shortages in various parts of the US. If you have ever considered donating, but been putting it off, now would be an excellent time to make the effort.Report

    • There are indeed, lots of stories on blood shortages looking at the links for this week. I was trying to find an overarching one about the constant blood shortages but did not find one, so if anyone has please do share. I regularly give blood myself and encourage everyone who can to do the same.Report

  7. Pinky says:

    In4: I can tell Linky Friday is under new management. A few months ago, this article would have been tagged “superhero origin story” or “this will end badly”.Report

  8. PD Shaw says:

    [Bl4] “shooters opened fire into a crowded street party, police said. Of the wounded who reported an age, the oldest was 62 and the youngest 13, police records show.”

    A sad commentary on the news media that some mass shooting get more coverage than others.Report