National Enquirer level reporting there. Saying that Hitler thought that he was a good person is not the same as saying that he was a good person. This type of confusion bothers me because I've seen it come up a surprising number of times. In my Bioethics class at school we were talking about Nazi human experimentation and one of our discussion questions was whether or not the Nazis had morals. Most people, including myself, argued that they did have morals. This really aggravated this one girl who interpreted that acknowledgment as an endorsement of Nazi practices.
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That is unfortunate for Will Smith. He should have known better than to say something that could be so easily misunderstood.
The big problem with this article is that, by Will Smith's definition, every human is "good"...because every human lives by morality. And yet the headline still says he thought Hitler specifically was a good person.
What I like best about that article is the explanatory paragraph at the end..."Just in case you didn't know who Hitler was..."
Posts: 930 | Registered: Dec 2006
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I notice they chose a kind of off-kilter photo to put with it, too. I'm betting there was a whole interview that didn't get quoted and there was just that one little thing they pulled out of context to twist it.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:He should have known better than to say something that could be so easily misunderstood.
The idea that our celebrities should keep their own comments dumbed-down because the public is even dumber is something that I find a little horrific.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Well I think if he had been some professor at a university, him comments would have been interpreted more intelligently...But people are so used to celebrities saying incredibly stupid things that it's easy for a journalist to say "Guess what, Will Smith likes Hitler!!"
Yes it is sad though...
Posts: 930 | Registered: Dec 2006
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quote:He should have known better than to say something that could be so easily misunderstood.
The idea that our celebrities should keep their own comments dumbed-down because the public is even dumber is something that I find a little horrific.
Right with you on that Tom. I find it stupid that often entire topics of conversation are impossible to consider because people assume that even entertaining them implies tacit agreement.
Coincidentally in the I Am Legend thread I am discussing the whole idea of where this idea of, "Nobody is completely evil." comes from.
I get the feeling we are going from one extreme, "Where villains are glad to be evil" to, "Nobody is evil, everyone thinks they are accomplishing good no matter how flawed those ideas are."
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I definately agree with Rivka that it was a slow news day.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Wow, thats a really messed up headline. Also, "stunned the world" in the first sentence? I doubt that more than 0.00000001% of the world was particularly stunned, at Will Smith anyways
BB: I can relate. Sometimes, if one expresses supports for some ideas or methods associated with a "evil" organisation, then sometimes people will automatically assume support for the whole organisation. e.g. "Well, the German government did make some pretty good improvements to the autobahns. Maybe we should improve our roads too." "What! Improve our roads? You want Canada/America to be more like Nazis?"
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Hmmm, I wonder if Smith would dare to argue for the inherent goodness of the infamous Kittyoberfuhrer.Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Mucus: Exactly. Everyone hates the nazi's for their inhuman experiments on Jews, homosexuals, and gypsies. But plenty of people would like the German government to unlock the archives that contain the results of their experiments.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Sigh. Stupid people make me disappointed. Stupid people like the writer of that article, and all the people who read it and conclude "Will smith thought hitler was a good guy?" Sigh.
Posts: 655 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: Mucus: Exactly. Everyone hates the nazi's for their inhuman experiments on Jews, homosexuals, and gypsies. But plenty of people would like the German government to unlock the archives that contain the results of their experiments.
*cries as the kitten dies*
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Why on earth is the headline in quotes? They are quoting nothing - it's a completely fake story. The first paragraph interpretation is not supported at all by the quote that follows.
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