Tag Archives: judgement

POSITIVE CYNICISM EP. 66: JUDGING THE POP CULTURE PAST

Continuing the discussion from EP. 65: Judging the Past, @chadsmart is joined by once again by Eric Bennett to discuss using standards and morals of 2018 when viewing movies from the past. Is it fair to label teen comedies from the ’80s as sex crimes on film?  Is it acceptable to write off derogatory speech as just a product of the time? These topics and others examined as Chad and Eric cover their history as pop culture connoisseurs to see if they’ve view items from their youth differently today.

POSITIVE CYNICISM EP. 65: JUDGING THE PAST THROUGH THE EYES OF TODAY

Should the past be held to the standards of today? That’s the topic @chadsmart and Travis Yates (@PopCultIQ) tackle in this installment of Positive Cynicism. While attending PolitiCon 2018, Chad heard a panelist talking about immigration and criticizing the evil white men who conquered America. This got Chad to thinking if Christopher Columbus hadn’t “discovered” America or the other explorers and early settlers hadn’t been the first ones to America wouldn’t whoever tried to settle the land have committed the same atrocities?  Not that that excuses the behavior, only that can we judge people’s actions in the past if they don’t line up with the standards of today?

With that as a jumping off point, Chad and Travis jump all over history to discuss how attitudes and societal norms have to be taken into consideration when looking at the past. As society advances and things that were once deemed okay are now viewed as wrong, instead of demeaning the past, should use the situation as a teaching moment. For those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.