The Miss America Controversy....

[soulfilms]

ok. i didn't see that long post when i posted. and maybe that does change the situation, but hey, sh**t happens. life is not fair and people need to deal with it. THAT is called character building.

[Alex]

Character Building....hmmmmm.

That is a tough one. We could begin to justify lots of malicious acts by saying they build character. In fact, virtually all malicious acts either build character OR rid the planet of the weaker among us.

But perhaps there is a third option, those stunned or harmed by malicious acts just become disillusioned, eek, [img]eek.gif[/img] maybe that is building character after all.

Naw, disillusionment is taking the easy way out in life. For instance, if someone believes "I'm disillusioned by the behavior of others, therefore I refuse to try and take part in society or make it a "better" place to live", that would be a cop-out.

So what does "better" mean? Well, that interpretation may vary depending on who's viewpoint, but most would agree that things that harm the harm the environmental planet are not good, (although the environmental planet can pretty much take care of itself) And most might agree that taking an image of someone else when they weren't doing anything illegal, and using it against them to limit and contain them, is not a good thing and should not be condoned.

That would make the Miss America Board the biggest evil of all. They honored and validated the actions of one person doing evil to another.
I hope they are made to pay a VERY STEEP PRICE for this conduct.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 25, 2002 01:10 AM: Message edited by: Alex ]</font>

[soulfilms]

i'm not JUSTIFYING anything. i'm just assessing the situation which has already occurred and cannot be changed. i'm trying to put it into perspective (that pageants are a vessel of evil) and making do with a bad situation (character building). YES i do agree that it was a sordid affair but in the long run........it need not matter.

[Alex]

"Pageants are a vessel of evil", wow, sounds like a quote from a famous person. (are you holding out on me?)

I think this is about extortion. Extortion is wrong.

[soulfilms]

yes. i agree with you. extortion is wrong MOST of the time.

surprised you there with my infrequent burst of intellectualism huh?

[SHATOUSHKA]

i watched this thread evolve from the beginning.

its total bs, alex.

i think i side with SF on this thread...

however, i think that its the 'system' that is
corrupt...in the 2000's, we shouldn't be blatantly
propagating and rewarding drones of beauty...
we are far too advanced for this type of public
display.

it would be more 'advanced' to propagate and
reward beauty on a more sly and criminal means...
thats the wave of the future.

and alex, the next time you want to discuss extortion...
pick an exact story about exortion...

not some situation that is MORE than extortion
and then demand that its what the story is about.

[img]wink.gif[/img]

[Alex]

I chose the angle that I chose, it exists, it happened, and it needs to be addressed. You can judge whether Beauty contests should exist at all, but whilst they do exist, extortion aimed at one of the contests was wrong.

[SHATOUSHKA]

you can call it 'extortion' all you want,
i say you are wrong.

[Alex]

In typical "Hollywood" fashion, Rebekah Revels was "awarded" the U.S. position in the Miss Universe Pageant, and the criminal behavior of extortion by her ex-boyfriend, and the complicity to this crime by the Miss American Pageant, has been swept under the rug.

[SHATOUSHKA]

you say extortion....

thousands of americans are screaming out to
their lord and savior for having the good graces
to send a messenger to step in a save a time
honored tradition from being fouled up with *****.

*rolls eyes*