The Layman's Rants

I have a lot of things on my mind and rather than, simply dwell on them, I decided to write them down and put them out there for everyone to see. I'm not an expert on anything. I'm not a genius. I just see things I don't like.

[kcryses]

I wonder how many people bitching about Roman Reigns daring to exist nearby the Undertaker will tune in tomorrow night to watch the show they think sucks so much produced by the company that they’re so done with. Probably all of them.

[kcryses]

IWC Rant: Summerslam

Gradually, WWE has been giving in to matches many internet wrestling fans would love to see. One such match last night was Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor. You'd think that'd be a dream match, but it was ruined not by the red belt that really isn't even that bad, but by those same fans' reaction to it. If anyone ever asked why I hate smarks, this is it. A great match happened in the ring, but who needs to watch the match and enjoy the action when there's an ugly belt on screen? Who needs to show respect to the wrestlers' effort when we can boo the belt? When both Mick Foley and Seth Rollins condemn you, maybe you take some time to reflect. Yes, you have the right to voice your opinion, but when your opinion about a belt supersedes your opinion about the match to the point of neglecting the wrestlers' efforts, you end up looking like kinda stupid and disrespectful. If you want WWE to continue catering to your desires, maybe disrespectful stupidity isn't the way to go.

[kcryses]

Quick Rant: Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad may not have been one of the best movies, but it certainly was not worse than Green Lantern and Fant4stic and certainly not professional negligence like some critics say. This hyperbolic bullshit is really shaking the little trust I have in movie critics' objectivity.

[kcryses]

Let’s See If Feminist Logic Holds Up

A trailer was just released from a major, beloved franchise (DC Comics) adored by millions of men worldwide. The trailer is for a movie starring a woman rather than a man. If feminists’ logic is to be believed, it should be a violently hated trailer stained with endless misogynistic comments.

Here’s the link, feminists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lGoQhFb4NM

Test your theory.

[kcryses]

SJW Rants 3: Black Lives Matter

Murder is wrong-- that much should be obvious, so when a handful of Black people are killed by the police for the various reasons that were presented, it stinks of racism, megalomaniacal officers, and a lack of governmental supervision. For once, Black Lives Matter has something right-- protesting something that is actually wrong and should actually be fixed, but that's where my applause for them ends because recently on social media, like-minded people or outright BLM supporters came up with #AllLivesDidntMatter.

The hashtag is supposed to be a retaliation to what they see as the conversation-ender, #AllLivesMatter. By pointing out points in the past where life apparently didn't matter, it's supposed to expose the hypocrisy of #AllLivesMatter, but there's one fundamental problem with that: it implies that the people saying, "All lives matter", wouldn't be saying or didn't say the same thing under the circumstances #AllLivesDidntMatter points out. The problem is most people would have said the same thing if they didn't already. If it were popular at the time-- whether it be during the slave trade or during the Civil Rights Movement or even as recent as events preceding the rise of Black Lives Matter-- the result would have been the same: people against the injustice because they do believe all lives matter.

If you're going to bring up slavery, then yes at the time, slave owners didn't believe Black lives matter. Those slave owners are dead and slavery is illegal. If you're going to bring up the Civil Rights Movement, then yes at the time, racists didn't believe Black lives matter. Those racists are old and dying and racial discrimination is not only illegal, but heavily looked down upon by society. If you're going to bring up something like Trayvon Martin's death, then yes at the time, George Zimmerman didn't believe that Black life mattered. Today's general public is not George Zimmerman.

The biggest problem I have with #AllLivesDidntMatter is that it brings up things from the past that people weren't so loudly vocal on and identifies it as hypocrisy when in reality, people still disagreed with it. There is no hypocrisy to point out because no one went back on their beliefs. People weren't vocal during those times because #AllLivesMatter is also a reactionary trend, reacting to the behavior of Black Lives Matter. If BLM didn't have a history of being outright wrong, racially discriminatory, and all-around annoying, #AllLivesMatter would have never happened. To me, pointing out nonexistent hypocrisies within a trend that only exists because of your own faults as a group is only furthering the damage to your credibility that already exists. It's not that no one said "#alllivesmatter" when those atrocities occurred. It's that no one needed to say it because it was a common thought. "#alllivesmatter" is being said now because Black Lives Matter behaves as if its issues take priority over everyone else's.

No one talks about the Muslim American falsely arrested for "swearing allegiance to ISIS" because #blacklivesmatter. No one talks about the atheist who can't run for public office because #blacklivesmatter. No one talks about the regular Black-on-Black murder because #blacklivesmatter. I find it extremely agitating when the same people who have a history of such idiotic acts as storming stages when a presidential candidate is speaking and shutting down private lectures (even putting their hands on the speaker) suddenly garner support because they're in the right this time. A broken clock is right twice a day, that doesn't make it good clock.

I wanted to write this rant because, as a Black guy, I do understand the original intentions of Black Lives Matter. I get it, but when you say Black lives matter then shun the idea that all lives matter, you're saying, "My problems take precedent over yours." I don't tolerate that. If you want racial equality, behave as if your race is equal to others. Don't throw out other ideologies because you feel like your problems don't take precedent anymore. They're not supposed to. Racists hate Black people. Islamophobes hate Muslims. Sexists hate women. Fundamentalist Christians hate atheists. The world is fucked up in every conceivable way, meaning everyone person on the planet has a serious problem with another group. Everyone gets shit. Black lives do matter just as much as all lives, but no life is special.

[kcryses]

SJW Rant 2: Pride Days/Months

#heterosexualprideday is a topic of discussion today for some damn reason and, predictably, the SJWs of the Internet have come out to whine. Personally, I think this entire situation is utterly stupid in both directions.

First, the SJW argument is heterosexuals don’t need pride celebrations because their sexuality is the norm and it’s non-heterosexual people who deserve recognition. As surprising as it may sound, I think they’re right-- at least half-right. Heterosexuals don’t need a pride day... NOBODY NEEDS A PRIDE DAY. The entire point of things like Gay Pride, Black History Month, etc. is to make certain groups feel good about themselves and showcase their own greatness, but no one needs a day/month for that. Just be proud or don’t. There’s no need for the country to recognize you specifically because you belong to a specific group and it’s currently a specific time period. If you need a designated schedule to feel good about who are, then maybe you don’t deserve a pride day/month. If you don’t, you don’t need one.

The thing that agitates me is the hypocrisy of one community and the utter whiny attitude of the other community. Many people in the LGBT community want equality, but then jump at the opportunity to be recognized as special during LGBT Pride events. That makes no sense. Equality by definition is balance-- everything represented equally or not at all. So I fail to see how one could push for equality then advocate a special time dedicated to them specifically. On the other side, the people behind this hashtag are only adding more fuel to a fire for what seems to be reactionary reasons. Rather than remove everything from the scale and gain balance through neutrality, they’ve added more weight. If representation is the route they want to go, then everyone should have a pride day, but then that’s when things get unnecessarily complicated because again, it’s not needed.

I think Morgan Freeman said it best some time ago. He was referring to racial issues at the time, but I think it’s relevant here as well. To paraphrase, if you want sexuality-based hatred to stop, shut up about it. Everyone just shut the fuck up about people’s sexualities and it will eventually become a non-issue. It would finally be recognized as the irrelevant factor that it is.

[kcryses]

Monday Message 2

To all: IWC smarks, you do not work in the wrestling industry, so stop pretending that you sufficient knowledge to run a wrestling show. SJWs, the world doesn't revolve around your emotions. Fuck your feelings. Radical feminists, facts are not sexist. If anyone is, it's you. MGTOWs, you're not helping. Radical Black activists, being White is not a sin.

[why-chu-deactivated20170424]

A Reminder:

cis ≠ transphobic

straight ≠ homophobic

white ≠ racist

male ≠ sexist

able bodied/minded ≠ ableist 

being any of these does not make you a bad person, don’t ever let tumblr tell you that who you are is a bad thing. lets spread love instead of hate alright? ♥

[kcryses]

You know you've failed at life when garlic bread pisses you off.

[kcryses]

Clinton pulling the woman card against Trump... I don't like Trump, but it seems like Hillary Clinton sees herself as a woman for purely political reasons. Having a vagina doesn't make you a good president.

[kcryses]

Feminism Rant 5: X-Men: Apocalypse

According to Rose McGowan and her feminist followers, an X-Men: Apocalypse billboard is misogynistic because it apparently promotes violence against women by depicting Apocalypse choking Mystique. The main reason for this is that there is no context.

Well, call me crazy, but when I see something out of context-- and I think most reasonable people will do the same-- I get the fucking context before I make a judgement. Any negative thing happening to a woman at the hands of a man can look misogynistic without context. That's why we get context.

What baffles me the most, aside from the idiotic conditions under which misogyny apparently exists, is the fact that feminists claim to care about women's rights and equality, but then complain when a woman is treated the same way a man would be treated in the same situation (a fight between super-powered beings).

Mystique got choked? (SPOILER) Apocalypse: throat slit by a woman, electrocuted by a woman, mentally beat down by a woman. Is that misandry now? No. It's a fight, it's the climax, it's a fucking movie! So how about we treat it like it's a movie instead of acting like a billboard is going to encourage someone to go choke some women?

And what agitates me the most is that by doing this, McGowan is degrading Mystique by seeing her as just a woman being choked by a man. It reduces this expert-fighting, multilingual, badass, ruthless, iconic female character to "woman", nothing more. Even in the movie, Mystique embodies so much more than that-- something McGowan would've known if she got the context.

[kcryses]

Monday Message 2

It’s easy to blame strangers for things that appear to be their fault, but there’s a difference between blaming and berating. Sometimes horrible things happen and unless we actually know how and why it happened– and most of the time, we don’t– we have no right to judge the people involved as if we do. Let’s just accept the reality of the situation and improve on the future.

[kcryses]

#giveagaycharacteragirlfriend

Or would that upset the SJWs? The double standards are far too real.

[armandyke]

nah buddy ofc we want the gay characters to have girlfriends too, I love and support all lesbian characters :)

[kcryses]

I suppose I should’ve specified “gay” as “homosexual male”. Regardless, the point is if the creators of a homosexual character were being pressured to make that character heterosexual, it wouldn’t have nearly as much support.

[kcryses]

What would trigger them more IcemanXJaneFosterThor or BuckyXJaneFosterThor?

I have no idea.

[kcryses]

#giveagaycharacteragirlfriend

Or would that upset the SJWs? The double standards are far too real.

[kcryses]

WWE Rant 2: Extreme Rules 2016

Yesterday, was WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view and I believe it only continued WWE’s streak of good shows, which is a wonderful sight after WWE’s streak of bad shows in 2015. It had many matches that had solid wrestling and nice storytelling behind it that made for an entertaining show.

 The Club vs. The Usos

I went into this match fearing that the Usos would win, which would have been the wrong decision in my book, but I was pleasantly proven wrong when the Club won. I liked the entire picture that this match painted. It showed Anderson and Gallows as two dominant monsters ridding themselves of their Uso nuisances while also showing that the Usos are not push-overs and shouldn’t be underestimated. It showed that the Club is the dominant team and the Usos are very persistent and resilient insects. They may succeed in some instances, but they’re still insects and they were crushed. This message was best conveyed when referees helped the Usos out of the arena afterwards.

 Kalisto vs Rusev (United States Championship)

I expected Rusev to be bested, so Kalisto can have the underdog story much like the Big Show-Rey Mysterio storyline, but I was again surprised. Not only did Rusev win, but he crushed that entire thought process when he violently slammed Kalisto onto the ring apron, stomped on his already-injured back repeatedly, then put him in the Accolade in such a convincing fashion that I was genuinely concerned for Kalisto’s back.

Many people believe this is just a segue for Cena’s next US Championship reign. I do too. I think it’d be horrible for Rusev’s career to be once again cast into Cena’s shadow, but I would also love to see the US Open Challenge again. Is Rusev’s credibility worth another string of good Cena matches? I don’t know.

 The New Day vs. The Vaudevillains (Tag Team Championship)

I expected the New Day to win and I’m glad they did because the Vaudevillains, for all their wrestling talent, are uninteresting to me. Their characters are off-putting in an era of wrestling where most of the wrestlers are playing as more realistic characters than outlandish ones. I mean, characters like the Undertaker are so embedded in history that it almost transcends the idea of an outlandish character, but the Vaudevillains don’t have that and they stick out like sore thumbs.

I’m sure they’re great, but I don’t want them as champions and I’m glad they’re not. Perhaps later in their WWE careers.

 Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens vs. The Miz vs. Sami Zayn (Intercontinental Championship)

Do I even need to review this match? It speaks for itself. There was not a single dull moment from start to finish. Sami had all kinds of hype behind him. Kevin played his role perfectly by killing all kinds of hype. Cesaro did what he does best and wrestled like a champion. And the Miz did what does best and made everyone hate him. I would have like to see the belt change hands, but the fact that it didn’t just makes the Miz’s character more potent. I now long for day he loses that championship, which is a good thing because the Miz is not supposed to be liked.

 Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose (Asylum match)

This match slow and stupid. Simple as that. This could have been a very hardcore match pitting Jericho’s ego against Ambrose’s very personality and showing that not even Chris Jericho could hang in the Asylum. Instead, it was a comedic match that I couldn’t take seriously. When the “weapons” involved are mops, plants, and nunchaku, I’ll never take it seriously. Thankfully, the ending was saved by the use of thumbtacks and a barbed wire 2x4.

 Charlotte vs. Natalya (Women’s Championship)

This was a decent match ruined by a stupid finish. I get the desire to make Dana Brooke more relevant, but having her come out dressed as Ric Flair to “distract” Natalya was the dumbest way to do it. Why couldn’t she just come out as herself and attack/distract Natalya? Is she working with the Flairs? I don’t understand and I don’t want to either. Just give Sasha the belt and use her to start fresh.

 AJ Styles vs. Roman Reigns (WWE World Heavyweight Championship; Extreme Rules match)

This along with the Fatal 4-Way was one of the night’s best matches. It took the rivalry they started at Payback and turned it up to the point that the goal wasn’t to best the opponent, but to win the gold. Many people blindly complain that Reigns was hit with 8 trillion Phenomenal Forearms and 3 billion Styles Clashes then hit .000001% of a single move and won, but the reality is they both took large amounts of damage. I dare even say AJ took more damage. He was thrown like a ragdoll, which is exactly what I’d expect the larger opponent to do to the smaller one. And when AJ finally snapped and assaulted Reigns with the chair, it signifies that he lost what kept him apart from his violent friends and it screwed him. It reminds me of an episode of “Star Wars: Clone Wars” where, after Darth Maul’s return, Obi-Wan Kenobi fights him only to get his ass kicked and be forced to retreat because “[his] rage has unbalanced [him]”. Perhaps if AJ had kept his cool (and WWE wasn’t scripted), he’d be champion.

I hate this idea people have that Roman is just so bad at wrestling that the only time he could ever look good is when he wrestles someone better than him. AJ Styles is a better wrestler, no doubt, but it takes two to make a match look good and this match looked spectacular. I hated it when the audience chanted, “You still suck!” because that’s just an indicator that he did something to prove that he didn’t suck and the audience is just disregarding it because they hate him so much. It’s one of the reasons I want Roman to fully turn heel. He leaves his family and busts his ass every day to entertain an audience filled with ungrateful assholes. If that isn’t reason enough to turn, I don’t know what is.

Truthfully, I don’t expect Roman to be another AJ Styles or Daniel Bryan or Cesaro. No one should expect every wrestler to be essentially the same (indy wrestling experience, extensive technical skills, etc, ridiculously diverse moveset). It’s a nice dream, but it isn’t reality. Some people are just not like that and that’s a good thing because it allows for more variations in style. I like AJ’s style because it can work against anyone. He’s versatile, but I also like Roman’s style because it fits Roman Reigns. I don’t want to see that big motherfucker doing rest holds and mat wrestling. I want to see him throwing people around and, so far, he’s done it best with AJ Styles.

I didn’t like the finish to the match, though. It was too quick, but the match was grade-A. And the end of the PPV was even better. I can’t wait to see what Seth Rollins has in store now that he’s back.

[kcryses]

When you feel compelled to tell someone they "still suck", it implies they did something to suggest otherwise. At this point, I'm really starting to believe there is a significant amount of blind hatred for Roman Reigns.