This is depressing (MST3K news)

[lazarus]

Mike Nelson's a freeper. Can you imagine? Someone from MST3K is a freeper?

Check it out:

http://tom-servo.home.mindspring.com/special-events_interview_mike-nelson-2-main.html

Q33 (Forrest): Have you seen The Passion of the Christ? If so, what did you think?

A33: I have seen it. I have mixed feelings about movie depictions of the central event in the Christian faith. For myself, I have the Bible and that works well for me. Also, I’m a Protestant, and we tend to be more Easter focused, while traditionally, Catholics have been a little more Passion focused. So it did me good to spend a little time there.

All that being said, I think it was a pretty fine movie, and darned if it didn’t get people talking about religion again, a subject that some are trying to close off from the public square, a pet peeve of mine. Though the Judeo-Christian worldview has served us well for more than two hundred years and underpins the finest society in the history of the world, there are those fighting hard to throw it all on the scrap heap and replace it with radical secularism, a worldview that has brought us Nazism, Communism and some of the greatest horrors of all time.


Q54 (Forrest): Believe it or not, there have actually been discussions on our discussion board about whether or not you are independent, republican or democrat. Paul Chaplin and Kevin Murphy have often shared their political views with the world. So what are yours? Are you an elephant, a donkey, or neither?

A54: Well, let me say this, I read the National Review cover to cover. Check in at Townhall.com every day. Check the Washington Times daily. Listen to Dennis Prager and Michael Medved on a regular basis. Read Mark Steyn with regularity. Read the Weekly Standard. So, yes, I do vote Republican. As the pundit Hugh Hewitt has observed, there are indeed two Americas: Serious America and Silly America. The Democrats seem bent on turning this into Silly America, so I stick with those who wish this to remain Serious America.

Of course, in addition, as angry as it makes me, I check in with the monolithic press: the NY Times, the L.A. Times, the Boston Globe. One thing I can’t do, that makes me just insanely angry, is read my local paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, known to many as the Star and Sickle, or the Red Star Tribune.

[Fenris]

1. Well...shit.

And he seemed so smart.

[Fenris]

3. I want to add something...but I don't know what...

I mean...wow...I think that's completely bizarre. Who could read Townhall or NR without bursting into laughter?

Man....that is depressing.

[Fenris]

6. Silly world? His whole career exists in the sill world.

God, why does this confuse me so much. There goes another idol.

[Cush]

2. well this bites

[lazarus]

4. Just had a thought

at least this is one conservative who has a sense of humour, if you stay away from politics and religion.

Right?

:shrug:

[Sapphocrat]

5. What an asshole.

And what a disappointment.

I knew there was something stopping me from picking up those three MST3K videos on sale at Tower. Must have been liberal's intuition.

Hey, Nelson! I always liked Joel better anyway!

[BlackVelvetElvis]

7. I didn't expect THAT.

<speechless>

[daligirrl]

8. Another personality

Who is in crisis about his career, I think. I finally warmed up to Mike after Joel, but this is not surprising. He needs a job, I think.

[Bluebear]

9. Mike looks like a freep. Joel, a dem. :)

[King Of Paperboys]

10. What a tool.

I am aghast.

The people who discuss, who take measured actions, who THINK are "Silly?" And the people lie, steal and act out of hate and fear are "Serious?"

That may be the single stupidest statement I've read all week. But at least we know he came by his ignorance honestly... just look at his sources.

Goodbye, Mike. Goodbye, MST3K.

[Zomby Woof]

11. FUCK

Jeezo-crisco on a top hat!! He isn't a mild wingnut either... he buys into ALL THE BULLSHIT.

:puke: Oh fuck.

[lazarus]

12. told ya it was depressing

I have no idea how to react to something like this.

That's why I said freeper instead of conservative. Conservative I can tolerate, but freeper? Ick.

[Taverner]

13. Keep in mind the first guy, Joel Hodgson

is at least left leaning. Forgot the interview, but it came out during the 92 and he said he stayed away from the political, but liked Tsongas and considered the man a friend.

[Heddi]

14. Yeah well Joel was much more engaging than Mike

and I totally hated life when Joel left/was replaced/whatever.

TV Frank was also missed :(

[are_we_united_yet]

17. True

Joel was the bomb(very good for those who don't know the vernacular). Last time I saw MST3K was in 1996. I can't imagine watching it with this guy in charge who looks kind of jerkish.

[Sabriel]

15. Well, there goes my dream

I was hoping for a MST3K version of a * speech or press conference. So much for that....

[tridim]

16. Joel is, was, and shall forever be MST3K

Screw you Mike. I thought you were smarter than that.

I assume Trace and Kevin Murphy were Dems. I know TV's Frank is a Dem, he's been on Air America.

[Tom Kitten]

18. But really...

I have a few thoughts that I'm not sure I can tie together coherently!

How much different is what he did from what the Medved brothers did (remember Golden Turkeys? Although one could easily sense the contempt towards their subjects in those books)...Underneath the surface of MS3T2K I did sense at times a sense of meanspiritedness at times...When you're presented with such movies as "Manos Hand of Fate", "Wild World of Batwoman", and "Teenagers from Outer Space" you can't help but make snide and funny remarks...Believe me I do it myself, I have hundreds of "bad" movies on vhs and love practically all of them (or else I wouldn't keep them)...And I've practically peed my pants laughing at some of the MS3T2K remarks watching them...But the movies themselves are secondary, an easy target for the barbs and quips, and are quickly forgotten once the movie is over (remember this is supposed to be "punishment"). And this is a guilty pleasure for me as well, I love inflicting captive audiences on such guilty pleasures as "Mesa of Lost Women" or "Reform School Girls"...

I guess what I'm trying to say is appreciation for "bad b-movies from the past" transcends political persuasion so don't be surprised if conservative people sometimes happen to like the same thing as liberal people do.... Find and read through a back issue of Filmfax or Cult Movies and somewhere therein I'll bet you can find at least a page or two of conservative viewpoints...Many horror/sci-fi critics are conservative and let their viewpoint be known...

[Deja Q]

19. Star Tribune is 'star and sickle'? Get this guy off the illegal drugs NOW

He is full of cattle diarrhea if he thinks the Strib is a lib'rul paper/website.

There was an article a few weeks back... I forgot the topic but the front page was littered with the repuke POV. Not a single liberal voice was stated.

[Khephra]

30. Sorry, but it's LEGAL drugs that help people think this way

Take Mike out on a 3 day acid/X/Peyote binge and he'll come back a different guy. Trust me on this one. Illegal drugs allow you to speak to the Gods whereas I've only sat in a corner speaking to myself off of "legal" drugs.

[jpgray]

31. Illegal drugs just give you a better look at what's been in your head

It doesn't put anything new in, it just takes away some of the hassle of rummaging around down there. At least that's how my friends and I have always seen it. :)

[Book Lover]

20. Yeah, it sucks

I found this out a few months ago, reading an interview off The Satellite News (http://www.mst3k.com). I hadn't read the above, though. The interview I read included his darling tidbit that non-christians simply had no moral compass. Now I see a bit of anti-catholicism too, no shock.

[Fenris]

21. It's so inconsistent.

It's puzzling.

[jakefrep]

22. Well well well...

I guess that puts the Kibosh on the MST3K version of "Passion of The Christ" and the "Left Behind" movies.

[Kipepeo]

23. yeah

and he's friendly with this guy: http://www.lileks.com/

who (when he's not talking about his daughter) is bashing liberals constantly

[mac56]

24. Lileks is a complete RW hack since the pod people got to him.

I'd followed him since the early 80s when he wrote a column for the Minnesota Daily, the University of MN newspaper. Somewhere along the line he turned into a mouth-breathing neocon asswipe. I stopped reading him when he started saying nasty, offensive stuff about Paul Wellstone. This was before the plane crash, and I've never gone back.

I grieve that, too. I once really identified with the guy, felt a kinship with him, like he spoke for me. Both Midwestern guys in our mid-40s, with many of the same cultural reference points. How I could feel such a bond with a writer and then have him take such a turn really dismays me. A real disappointment.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

25. Dang.

I used to love going to that retro website.

[11cents]

26. To make yourself feel better ...

... read Kevin Murphy's book "A Year at the Movies." It's funny, fun, and insightful. And though I don't remember for sure, I think there's just enough politics in there to conclude that he's a good ol' Democrat.

Mike Nelson wasn't as good a performer as Joel, but I think he did a lot of the writing when the show was in its prime. I dunno. It's kind of interesting to have confirmation that it's possible to be funny and smart, or to have a certain kind of smarts that most people here would appreciate, and also be 'winger. The dreary samples of freeperdom we're all familiar with are so mentally degraded that it's almost encouraging to find out that it doesn't have to be that way.

[Torgo Johnson]

27. I truly regret that I looked at this post

In this case at least, ignorance was bliss. I could accept it if he was a paleo or moderate conservative, but based on his "reading list" and his rhetoric, he sounds like a mouth-breather neo-con. Now I am not going to be like them and burn all my tapes, mainly due to the fact that just about everyone else there was liberal. But I won't deny that I will have trouble watching again, at least until the election. I might just fast forward through the host segments.

[jpgray]

28. Joel and Kevin at least (and no doubt Trace) were fairly liberal

Frank has been involved with Air America, and a viewing of Teenage Caveman will let you know what they think of conservatism in general. Plus during 'It Conquered the World' we have 'I understand now--Ronald Reagan would make a great president' after the chief of police gets 'controlled'. :D Plus they rip on Ayn Rand all the time, the classic signs are there.

(I always wanted a concrete reason to like Joel better, but this isn't what I had in mind.)

edit: And regardless of his views, he didn't force them on the show--I'd be hard pressed to find a conservative slant represented in any of their shows I've seen, either when Joel was at the helm and Mike was just the head writer, or when Mike was running the whole shebang. He had a talent for humor, but his political acumen and critical thinking skills leave a lot to be desired.

[lazarus]

33. good point

if we couldn't tell he was a freeper from watching the show, at least he had the good sense to keep his politics quiet. So we can still watch and enjoy. After a while, to let this settle. Sigh.

[Gothic Sponge]

29. I love all MST3k, but the show did jump the shark after Joel left.

[SmileyBoy]

32. AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

I HATE people who call the Star-Tribune the Red Star!!!

I don't know what to say about this...