Jeepers, FReepers Part Deux (or How I Was FReeped Out)

As a follow-up to last night's post, I would like to tell you about my own attempt at participation in a Free Republic forum. I'm not one to throw the political F-word around a lot, but I became more convinced that Free Republic is just slightly on this side of a fascist rally.

The original Article was titled "James Woods Explains Why Hollywood Movies Stink." I find Woods to be an intriguing character who isn't afraid to speak his mind and is never dull. Naturally, someone thought it suitable for posting on Free Republic because Woods' critique of Hollywood is political in nature. He spoke of nepotism and narcissism, as if liberals have a monopoly on them. And he complained about political correctness in the way certain demographics are portrayed. I certainly agree with Woods that Hollywood movies are putrid for the most part, but his reasons for why they are that way are laughably simplistic, as is often the case with conservatives.

In any event, I couldn't wait to read through the dittohead comments that followed, with a bottle of Advil close by. There were a few lucid remarks about the quality of movies in general, but most of the comments were typical of the Freepers. And I found one of them (comment #6) that said, "that's Hollywood in a nut shell. Talentless people who got thier (sic) jobs because of who they knew or were related too. Proof that Hollywood now lacks talent - Rent Stone's Alexander. Terrible everything." Well, I couldn't resist. I registered as DiamondDog13 and posted my own reply:

Talentless people who got thier jobs because of who they knew or were related too.

Kind of sounds like the Presidency of the United States.

I knew right then that I'd be booted for trolling, but at least I got a rise out of a few people in subsequent comments. I wish I could have stuck around long enough to have someone tell me something, anything, that George W. Bush accomplished independently to justify his getting to his current position, but my posting privileges were revoked. And "Comment #56 Removed by Moderator". I was crushed. (I got over it.)

But I saw a glimmer of encouragement by durasell who replied to me before my comment was removed. Comment #65 said, "I always give folks the benefit of the doubt. So, with that in mind -- do you have anything to add to this discussion?" I considered that an invitation to weigh in, and was determined to be civil and coherent. I registered a different e-mail address as DiamondDog14, and this is what I wrote:

I always give folks the benefit of the doubt. So, with that in mind -- do you have anything to add to this discussion?

I sure do:

1. I am in total agreement that Hollywood films are horrible. But they are all about the bottom line, not the statement that they make. The studios are owned by large multi-media conglomerates, and their shareholders are of all different political stripes. The movies from Fox suck just as much as those from any other Hollywood studio.

2. My comment that was deleted was no less cogent than the one I was responding to.

3. It's ironic that folks here are complaining about the lack of conservative voices in Hollywood, yet don't tolerate diversity of opinion right here.

Would you agree that was civil and on topic?

I'd have loved to get durasell's reply, but I never got the chance because within ten minutes my posting privileges were revoked. And "Comment #110 Removed by Moderator". Let me tell you, folks, that pissed me off. I could understand getting booted the first time, but I hardly think my second post contained any "repugnant and obnoxious propaganda". There was nothing particularly liberal in my remarks - they were just challenging the ideas of other posters.

I really don't understand the mentality of the Freepers. How can you develop as a human being without rational discussion and debate? The answer is that you can't. If you read comments by many posters about their impression of liberals and their ideas, it's quite clear that they've never actually talked with one. They get their distorted information from sources like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. I tried to reason with them, but they wouldn't have any of it. Independent thought will not be tolerated. Free Republic must keep its readers' minds protected from impurities of intellect. Sounds a lot like the F word to me.