TV/Movies Megathread

[celedhring]

Seen the first ep of Daredevil season 2. What a blast to finally see[spoiler] Frank Fucking Castle[/spoiler] in a TV show/film that's actually good. Really looking forward the rest of the season.

[Capetan Mihali]

Hmm, never even heard of "Come And See," though I'm very ignorant on Eastern Bloc cinema, besides the early Soviet experimental films ("Man With A Movie Camera"!) and some of the later Czech and Polish work.  Planning on checking it out tonight.

[Admiral Yi]

A moral case study, from the TV show "Billions:"

Our protagonist/villain was a partner in some kind of financial company headquartered in the Twin Towers.  He was out of the office when the planes hit.  He saw the first plane hit and started shorting airline and hotel stocks in European markets (he was betting their stock prices would fall).  He made a great deal of money doing this.  All the other people in his company died.  The brother of the woman he ended up marrying was a fireman who died.

Did he do a terrible thing?

[viper37]

A moral case study, from the TV show "Billions:"

Our protagonist/villain was a partner in some kind of financial company headquartered in the Twin Towers.  He was out of the office when the planes hit.  He saw the first plane hit and started shorting airline and hotel stocks in European markets (he was betting their stock prices would fall).  He made a great deal of money doing this.  All the other people in his company died.  The brother of the woman he ended up marrying was a fireman who died.

Did he do a terrible thing?

he saw an opportunity, he took it.
However, let's look at how realistic that was in 2001.  Specifically that 11 of September 2001.
The attacks happenned before the stock exchange opened and they remained closed until the 17th of September.

Now, other stock exchanges would have remained opened, in all likelyhood.  However, New York was the biggest stock market at the time and most airline&hotel companies of the world were listed there.
I also doubt foreign companies took that big a hit on their home stock exchange.
And then, you have the logistic problem.  He needs access to a computer that has all his financial information.  This is 2001, you can't do it with a phone.  If he was in another branch of his company, that's possible, but I suspect most occidental stock exchanges had airline stocks frozen very soon, so, shorting would not have made a millionaire, unless he found some Russian or Chinese airline/hotel stock he could shortsell.

[Sophie Scholl]

Anyone catch Letterkenny yet?  It's a CraveTV original.  I saw the first episode and found it entertaining.  I'll probably try to track down the rest.

[Barrister]

A moral case study, from the TV show "Billions:"

Our protagonist/villain was a partner in some kind of financial company headquartered in the Twin Towers.  He was out of the office when the planes hit.  He saw the first plane hit and started shorting airline and hotel stocks in European markets (he was betting their stock prices would fall).  He made a great deal of money doing this.  All the other people in his company died.  The brother of the woman he ended up marrying was a fireman who died.

Did he do a terrible thing?

Well for starters as a fictional show this probably never happened in real life.  For starters the NYSE never opened on September 11th - the attacks occurred before the opening bell - and remained open until September 17th (yes, I had to google for the exact days).  I can't recall if the Euro markets did, but given how the 9/11 attacks were broadcast worldwide within minutes the opportunity to make the trades you suggest would be available only for a handful of minutes.  The Euro markets did drop like a stone on 9/11.

But assuming the hypothetical... you say he was "out of the office".  I think it depends what his alternatives were.  Did he have any other reasonable alternatives?  Could he have spent his time warning colleagues not to come to work that day, and did he know that they weren't yet at work (or likely weren't)?  They yes, putting his personal gain in front of the safety of others is terrible.

But otherwise... if he was otherwise just twiddling his thumbs... then there is nothing immoral about seeing a business opportunity.

[The Brain]

A moral case study, from the TV show "Billions:"

Our protagonist/villain was a partner in some kind of financial company headquartered in the Twin Towers.  He was out of the office when the planes hit.  He saw the first plane hit and started shorting airline and hotel stocks in European markets (he was betting their stock prices would fall).  He made a great deal of money doing this.  All the other people in his company died.  The brother of the woman he ended up marrying was a fireman who died.

Did he do a terrible thing?

Did he do it as a private individual or as part of the company (I don't know how significant it is for the situation that he was a partner)? Taking the day off for private gain may not be totally kosher. If he did it as work then it's just "the show must go on" and OK.

The above doesn't include the marriage. That one is of course not terrible (by the informaion presented).

[The Brain]

See what I did there? Not in the Tower? Kosher? Yeah.

[Eddie Teach]

Weird, I thought the character was supposed to be Irish, but it looks like you're right.

[Berkut]

A moral case study, from the TV show "Billions:"

Our protagonist/villain was a partner in some kind of financial company headquartered in the Twin Towers.  He was out of the office when the planes hit.  He saw the first plane hit and started shorting airline and hotel stocks in European markets (he was betting their stock prices would fall).  He made a great deal of money doing this.  All the other people in his company died.  The brother of the woman he ended up marrying was a fireman who died.

Did he do a terrible thing?

I don't think what he did was morally terrible, but being the kind of person who thinks "Hey, how can I make some cash from this?" at that particular moment in time and under those circumstances probably indicates that you are rather likely a fucking asshole.

[Josquius]

He was in the area at the time: Yeah. He's a psychopath.
He just saw it on TV: Not so bad. Nothing he could do to help afterall so seems fairly rational.

[Berkut]

He was in the area at the time: Yeah. He's a psychopath.
He just saw it on TV: Not so bad. Nothing he could do to help afterall so seems fairly rational.

Even seeing it on TV, he knows his "friends" and co-workers are potentially in serious danger, right?

There is this incredible event going on, which is going to change the world. Further, you are personally invested in it in that it is happening right were you work.

Whether you can help or not, if you are the kind of human being whose mind immediately goes to "How can I make some cash from this?" you are probably an asshole.

Now, I've only seen one or two episodes of the show, but I think that is exactly the kind of person they are trying to create here - he is, at the very least, an asshole.

[Josquius]

He was in the area at the time: Yeah. He's a psychopath.
He just saw it on TV: Not so bad. Nothing he could do to help afterall so seems fairly rational.

Even seeing it on TV, he knows his "friends" and co-workers are potentially in serious danger, right?

There is this incredible event going on, which is going to change the world. Further, you are personally invested in it in that it is happening right were you work.

Whether you can help or not, if you are the kind of human being whose mind immediately goes to "How can I make some cash from this?" you are probably an asshole.

Now, I've only seen one or two episodes of the show, but I think that is exactly the kind of person they are trying to create here - he is, at the very least, an asshole.

He's a trader.
He's probably an ass hole anyway :p

[Berkut]

He was in the area at the time: Yeah. He's a psychopath.
He just saw it on TV: Not so bad. Nothing he could do to help afterall so seems fairly rational.

Even seeing it on TV, he knows his "friends" and co-workers are potentially in serious danger, right?

There is this incredible event going on, which is going to change the world. Further, you are personally invested in it in that it is happening right were you work.

Whether you can help or not, if you are the kind of human being whose mind immediately goes to "How can I make some cash from this?" you are probably an asshole.

Now, I've only seen one or two episodes of the show, but I think that is exactly the kind of person they are trying to create here - he is, at the very least, an asshole.

He's a trader.
He's probably an ass hole anyway :p

True - but we are getting into degrees of asshole here!

Yi, how do you like the show overall? I watched two episodes, and was intrigued, but haven't watched anymore since then...

[celedhring]

Berkut, I love reading your posts, but your Giacconi quote completely murders my smartphone screen, especially when you post several times in the same thread.