Random Thoughts X: Impromptu Interpretations

[CKS]

My thoughts exactly.

Why should I buy them then? I _already_ own more games from GOG than I can play in a lifetime, judging by the rate I'm going through them.

 

[Takhisis]

Maybe we should call Dr. Arakhor, our resident expert in owning more games from GOG than he can play in a lifetime.

 

[Arakhor]

I do have a couple, yes.

 

[amadeus]

I have never seen more than one minute of WKRP in Cincinnati.

I was watching a video about Hitler and then that came up as a recommendation. I fail to see the link, but were a lot of Nazis on that show? I know they were on Hogan’s Heroes.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I have never seen more than one minute of WKRP in Cincinnati.

I was watching a video about Hitler and then that came up as a recommendation. I fail to see the link, but were a lot of Nazis on that show? I know they were on Hogan’s Heroes.

No, it is about WKRP (crap) a failing radio station in Cincinnati. It was very funny in its day and there were probably shows where Hitler was mentioned. It is worth a few minutes of your time.

 

[amadeus]

I think the humor would probably be a little too late ‘70s for me. Kind of gives me a Mork & Mindy or Welcome Back, Kotter feeling and I never cared for those shows either.

 

[The_J]

With this pandemic, I somehow got to think that zombie movies (-> zombie virus, whatever) are maybe not realistic and/or scary enough, and that maybe something more realistic would maybe be more scary. So I thought: What does everyone fear, what is also a disease? Dementia is probably somewhere on the top for everyone, right?

So, a dementia virus (this does not exist), would make a great movie.
Premise is that the virus causes dementia, but within the first 2 weeks of infection or so you are yourself not infectious, but you start showing the first symptoms, you start forgetting things. After these first 2 weeks, you become really, really infectious.
This would make a great scenario for a ravaged world.
- Some countries, where euthanasia is legal, accelerate the process. Everything's normal there, besides that hospitals directly have a crematorium attached. No consent though. Your relatives or anyone else notices you forgetting something? You're getting euthanized, no matter what you're saying
- some countries have death squads patrolling through the streets. They catch you, and you can't answer a question? You get shot instantly.
- Some countries throw everyone with the slightest symptoms into a giant reservation, with a big wall. Regularly food gets thrown in, and the demented are fighting for something to eat, not understanding what is happening to them or anyone else. Some people choose to keep their demented loved ones in a sealed room at home, at the danger of being deported into the dementia zone when being caught.
- Some countries just don't have anyhting under control, and are collapsing slowly. You are in one of them. You drive in the morning to work. Your car stops at a light, next to a bigger building. The building is sealed, there was an outbreak. You see some people looking out of the window on the 3rd floor, crying. You don't know if they have it, or if they don't dare to leave their apartment. On the ground floor, in the foyer, you see some people aimlessly walking around. They probably got it. You drive further, you see a mother, running away from their child. They are both crying. I guess the 6 year old kid has it? The situation is a bit clearer when you see a man fending of an older men with a broom. The old man just cries "I haven't seen you for so long son, what are you doing?". The military is sealing another district, barricades are being built. People are running away, someone is giving the command to shoot, but the soldiers are doubting what to do. You arrive at work. "Hey Frank, how's it going?" - "I'm pretty pissed. Someone stole my coffee mug, I really can't find it". You decide to not chat further with Frank, and get the heck out of this building.

... okay, no idea where this story could go, but would be a lot better than the next zombie movie.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

So, a dementia virus (this does not exist),

How easily could a prion disease be transmitted? afaik most (transmitted, but I can't remember the full term) cases occur from ingesting the bad proteins so unless it's some sort of crossover with Soylent Green that might not work.

 

[The_J]

Well... I wouldn't exclude anything, but...
I don't think it's too likely. The prions basically lead to the cell malfunctioning, but a virus needs the cell to be properly working to propagate. So this would be very counter productive.
A "normal" widespread brain infection might do the same job, but that's hard to predict .

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Like this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_encephalitis

 

[The_J]

Yep. Had not read up upon it, but:

Long-term complications of viral encephalitis typically relate to neurological damage, such as experiencing seizures, memory loss, and intellectual impairment.

Ah, so we have that already.
I guess there's just nothing which is infectious enough and reliably reaches the brain .

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I think in the....1910s? 20s? there was an epidemic of some sort of encephalitis. But it mostly just gave people some sort of catatonia/advanced Parkinsonism instead of dementia. I think there was a book and a movie about it at some point.

 

[Synobun]

Yep. Had not read up upon it, but:


Ah, so we have that already.
I guess there's just nothing which is infectious enough and reliably reaches the brain .

You would probably want a virus that delays the serious brain damage, like how COVID damages the heart in the long term. If someone goes from fine to drooling in a couple weeks, it'll be caught pretty quick. Then again, a super-high R could still make it pandemic-level.

I mean, in a film or series, it doesn't have to be perfectly realistic.

I like zombies which aren't zombies though. Making them still "alive" feels more interesting to me.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I like zombies which aren't zombies though. Making them still "alive" feels more interesting to me.

The Last of Us
(too bad it's PS4 only)

 

[MaryKB]

I personally think that taking a real-life disease that many people suffer from and turning it into a horror gimmick where people who show symptoms of that illness are ostracized, punished, and even exterminated in an organized fashion by the government is an absolutely HORRIBLE idea. I just don't even know what else to say, I'm completely flabbergasted that something like this would even be thought up.

Just imagine the scene where people who are showing symptoms of early-onset dementia are taken to death centers and exterminated en-masse.

Wow.

 

[Ajidica]

I have never seen more than one minute of WKRP in Cincinnati.

I was watching a video about Hitler and then that came up as a recommendation. I fail to see the link, but were a lot of Nazis on that show? I know they were on Hogan’s Heroes.

The only bit I've seen is the only bit anybody actually remembers these days:

 

[Synobun]

I personally think that taking a real-life disease that many people suffer from and turning it into a horror gimmick where people who show symptoms of that illness are ostracized, punished, and even exterminated in an organized fashion by the government is an absolutely HORRIBLE idea. I just don't even know what else to say, I'm completely flabbergasted that something like this would even be thought up.

Just imagine the scene where people who are showing symptoms of early-onset dementia are taken to death centers and exterminated en-masse.

Wow.

You're posting on a forum dedicated to games where you can sacrifice people to slavery and burn cities to the ground, slaughtering all its inhabitants.

 

[The_J]

Eh, there are tons of movies about pandemics and whatnot, and let's not forget every crime movie and war movie, where innocent people are killed.
And that's all mainstream, and not some weird niche stuff, and tons of people are watching it.

 

[Synobun]

Eh, there are tons of movies about pandemics and whatnot, and let's not forget every crime movie and war movie, where innocent people are killed.
And that's all mainstream, and not some weird niche stuff, and tons of people are watching it.

I watched Contagion a month before COVID started coming up. Seemed really apt. Fantastic film.

Plus, it has Gwyneth Paltrow destroying society.

 

[Takhisis]

So it's a biopic? Between that awful Shakespeare in Love film and her coffee enemas she's done huge societal damage.