• Reaction on first hearing videos

    From Adam H. Kerman@ahk@chinet.com to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 04:46:49 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    The YouTube algorithm keeps suggesting reaction video. Clueless yout's
    listen to popular music from decades ago and can't believe -- before
    autotune ruined everything -- that singers could truly sing.

    These two put on the 5th Dimension. Marilyn McCoo had a glorious voice,
    and the harmony was spectacular. She's got the opposite of a
    show-business personality and said all she needed to say by performing.

    They're playing "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" on first hearing.

    "Oh! The song has two names!"

    No; it's a medley.

    They have no idea that they are listening to covers of two show tunes
    from the 1968 musical Hair. At least the girl remembered what the age of Aquarius meant.

    I wanna hear them discover Bach. Who knew there was music in the 18th
    century?

    Here's an opera singer reacting to a performance of "One Less Bell to
    Answer" from Soul Train. The opera singer has a bit of trouble imitating Marilyn's technique!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygtFBrK2PS0

    bonk

    The same two from the first video are listening to Lulu sing "To Sir,
    With Love", the theme from the movie. They talk about this actor who
    just passed away, without saying Sidney Poitier. She says he was the
    first black actor in Hollywood. I want to cry.

    Neither has seen him in a movie. He's at the peak of his career; they
    have no clue. She knew he won the Oscar but they've never heard of
    Lilies of the Field (1963). It's a buddy comedy with Lilia Skala.
    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Rhino@no_offline_contact@example.com to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 11:08:57 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    On 2026-05-24 12:46 a.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:
    The YouTube algorithm keeps suggesting reaction video. Clueless yout's
    listen to popular music from decades ago and can't believe -- before
    autotune ruined everything -- that singers could truly sing.

    These two put on the 5th Dimension. Marilyn McCoo had a glorious voice,
    and the harmony was spectacular. She's got the opposite of a
    show-business personality and said all she needed to say by performing.

    They're playing "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" on first hearing.

    "Oh! The song has two names!"

    No; it's a medley.

    They have no idea that they are listening to covers of two show tunes
    from the 1968 musical Hair. At least the girl remembered what the age of Aquarius meant.

    I wanna hear them discover Bach. Who knew there was music in the 18th century?

    There was even music *before* Bach, or so I'm told ;-)

    Here's an opera singer reacting to a performance of "One Less Bell to
    Answer" from Soul Train. The opera singer has a bit of trouble imitating Marilyn's technique!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygtFBrK2PS0

    bonk

    Then there's The Great Gig in the Sky from Dark Side of the Moon,
    *IMPROVISED* in just two takes - what's on the album is a blending of
    the two takes - and then sung by that same singer on the first tour or
    two. Later tours used as many as four singers to do that one song.

    The same two from the first video are listening to Lulu sing "To Sir,
    With Love", the theme from the movie. They talk about this actor who
    just passed away, without saying Sidney Poitier. She says he was the
    first black actor in Hollywood. I want to cry.

    Neither has seen him in a movie. He's at the peak of his career; they
    have no clue. She knew he won the Oscar but they've never heard of
    Lilies of the Field (1963). It's a buddy comedy with Lilia Skala.

    Poitier wasn't even the first black to win an Oscar. Wasn't that Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind?
    --
    Rhino
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  • From suzeeq@suzee@imbris.com to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 08:49:34 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    On 5/24/2026 8:08 AM, Rhino wrote:> Then there's The Great Gig in the
    Sky from Dark Side of the Moon,
    *IMPROVISED* in just two takes - what's on the album is a blending of
    the two takes - and then sung by that same singer on the first tour or
    two. Later tours used as many as four singers to do that one song.

    The same two from the first video are listening to Lulu sing "To Sir,
    With Love", the theme from the movie. They talk about this actor who
    just passed away, without saying Sidney Poitier. She says he was the
    first black actor in Hollywood. I want to cry.

    Neither has seen him in a movie. He's at the peak of his career; they
    have no clue. She knew he won the Oscar but they've never heard of
    Lilies of the Field (1963). It's a buddy comedy with Lilia Skala.

    Poitier wasn't even the first black to win an Oscar. Wasn't that Hattie McDaniel in Gone With the Wind?

    Yuup.
    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Adam H. Kerman@ahk@chinet.com to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 17:04:33 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
    On 2026-05-24 12:46 a.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:

    . . .

    The same two from the first video are listening to Lulu sing "To Sir,
    With Love", the theme from the movie. They talk about this actor who
    just passed away, without saying Sidney Poitier. She says he was the
    first black actor in Hollywood. I want to cry.

    Neither has seen him in a movie. He's at the peak of his career; they
    have no clue. She knew he won the Oscar but they've never heard of
    Lilies of the Field (1963). It's a buddy comedy with Lilia Skala.

    Poitier wasn't even the first black to win an Oscar. Wasn't that Hattie >McDaniel in Gone With the Wind?

    She kept saying things that were obviously wrong without correcting
    herself, like not limiting her comments to lead actors. Obviously, yes,
    there were several actors who performed all the black servant roles who
    made a nice living for two decades or so. Among them, Hattie McDaniel is
    the only one who won best supporting actress.

    Harry Belafonte had a leading role in Carmen Jones (1954) with Dorothy Dandridge before Poitier. But Poitier is not important because he won the
    first Oscar for a black actor in a leading role only, but because he was
    so very commercially successful. He starred in a lot of movies that found
    an audience. Before Poitier, Hollywood never believed a black actor could
    find an audience. Where his movies were booked into theaters in the South
    by the late '60s, white moviegoers bought tickets.

    After Poitier, of course, Hollywood was still reluctant to cast black
    male leads, which we would not get till the Blacksploitation era.
    Mainstream Hollywood had few big-budget movies in the early '70s and had trouboe attracting large audiences.

    Clearly she'd never heard of Paul Robeson, incredibly popular star of
    stage and could have had a better movie career. He had a true bass
    baritone voice and was a world-class athlete in several sports and had
    advanced degrees.
    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From BTR1701@atropos@mac.com to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 18:40:16 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    On May 23, 2026 at 9:46:49 PM PDT, ""Adam H. Kerman"" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    The YouTube algorithm keeps suggesting reaction video. Clueless yout's
    listen to popular music from decades ago and can't believe -- before
    autotune ruined everything -- that singers could truly sing.

    I watch the videos of clueless youts reacting to "old" movies-- like DIE HARD, ALIEN, PREDATOR, and the STAR WARS saga. Seems like something that wouldn't be very entertaining-- watching someone else watch a movie-- but they're
    strangely mesmerizing.

    One thing that struck me is that at some point almost every one of them makes some comment along the lines of, "These old movies were really good, and the special effects look so much more real than they do these days. Why don't they make movie like this anymore?"

    Well, because back then, they didn't have the crutch of CGI (and now Chat GPT) to rely on and they had to actually write engaging stories, creative plots,
    and have good actors to sell the movie.


    These two put on the 5th Dimension. Marilyn McCoo had a glorious voice,
    and the harmony was spectacular. She's got the opposite of a
    show-business personality and said all she needed to say by performing.

    They're playing "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" on first hearing.

    "Oh! The song has two names!"

    No; it's a medley.

    They have no idea that they are listening to covers of two show tunes
    from the 1968 musical Hair. At least the girl remembered what the age of Aquarius meant.

    I wanna hear them discover Bach. Who knew there was music in the 18th century?

    Here's an opera singer reacting to a performance of "One Less Bell to
    Answer" from Soul Train. The opera singer has a bit of trouble imitating Marilyn's technique!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygtFBrK2PS0

    bonk

    The same two from the first video are listening to Lulu sing "To Sir,
    With Love", the theme from the movie. They talk about this actor who
    just passed away, without saying Sidney Poitier. She says he was the
    first black actor in Hollywood. I want to cry.

    Neither has seen him in a movie. He's at the peak of his career; they
    have no clue. She knew he won the Oscar but they've never heard of
    Lilies of the Field (1963). It's a buddy comedy with Lilia Skala.



    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From BTR1701@atropos@mac.com to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 18:42:11 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    On May 24, 2026 at 10:04:33 AM PDT, ""Adam H. Kerman"" <ahk@chinet.com>
    wrote:

    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
    On 2026-05-24 12:46 a.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:

    . . .

    The same two from the first video are listening to Lulu sing "To Sir,
    With Love", the theme from the movie. They talk about this actor who
    just passed away, without saying Sidney Poitier. She says he was the
    first black actor in Hollywood. I want to cry.

    Neither has seen him in a movie. He's at the peak of his career; they
    have no clue. She knew he won the Oscar but they've never heard of
    Lilies of the Field (1963). It's a buddy comedy with Lilia Skala.

    Poitier wasn't even the first black to win an Oscar. Wasn't that Hattie
    McDaniel in Gone With the Wind?

    She kept saying things that were obviously wrong without correcting
    herself, like not limiting her comments to lead actors. Obviously, yes,
    there were several actors who performed all the black servant roles who
    made a nice living for two decades or so. Among them, Hattie McDaniel is
    the only one who won best supporting actress.

    Harry Belafonte had a leading role in Carmen Jones (1954) with Dorothy Dandridge before Poitier. But Poitier is not important because he won the first Oscar for a black actor in a leading role only, but because he was
    so very commercially successful. He starred in a lot of movies that found
    an audience. Before Poitier, Hollywood never believed a black actor could find an audience. Where his movies were booked into theaters in the South
    by the late '60s, white moviegoers bought tickets.

    And now we've gone full 180 and you can't win an Oscar now unless your movie has black people in it, even if it means casting absurdities, like a black Helen of Troy.


    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Adam H. Kerman@ahk@chinet.com to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 19:12:26 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
    May 24, 2026 at 10:04:33 AM PDT, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    . . .

    Harry Belafonte had a leading role in Carmen Jones (1954) with Dorothy >>Dandridge before Poitier. But Poitier is not important because he won the >>first Oscar for a black actor in a leading role only, but because he was
    so very commercially successful. He starred in a lot of movies that found >>an audience. Before Poitier, Hollywood never believed a black actor could >>find an audience. Where his movies were booked into theaters in the South >>by the late '60s, white moviegoers bought tickets.

    And now we've gone full 180 and you can't win an Oscar now unless your movie >has black people in it, even if it means casting absurdities, like a black >Helen of Troy.

    You left something out. Your movie isn't eligible unless it's pushing a
    social message that audiences will reject because it's against all
    reason, especially if it's contrary to the source novel or earlier
    movies in series.

    Obviously, Poitier did socially-conscious movies, but the message in
    Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) was if your white daughter brings
    home a black man who looks like Poitier, who is the world's most
    accomplished doctor in international public health crises, sure, let's
    explore the color barrier. It's not like she were marrying a tradesman.

    Just pointing out in olden days, Hollywood still wanted an audience when
    they patted themselves on the back for their social agenda. Today,
    finding an audience is the last thing they seem to want.
    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Adam H. Kerman@ahk@chinet.com to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 19:22:27 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
    May 23, 2026 at 9:46:49 PM PDT, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    The YouTube algorithm keeps suggesting reaction video. Clueless yout's >>listen to popular music from decades ago and can't believe -- before >>autotune ruined everything -- that singers could truly sing.

    I watch the videos of clueless youts reacting to "old" movies-- like DIE HARD, >ALIEN, PREDATOR, and the STAR WARS saga. Seems like something that wouldn't be >very entertaining-- watching someone else watch a movie-- but they're >strangely mesmerizing.

    One thing that struck me is that at some point almost every one of them makes >some comment along the lines of, "These old movies were really good, and the >special effects look so much more real than they do these days. Why don't they >make movie like this anymore?"

    Well, because back then, they didn't have the crutch of CGI (and now Chat GPT) >to rely on and they had to actually write engaging stories, creative plots, >and have good actors to sell the movie.

    Spot on.

    I'll also comment that I loved the artistry of old sets, the way
    directors and lighting technicians achieved light and shadow effects in
    black and white movies, and the brilliance of pre-digital special
    effects.

    btw, I just saw a YouTube video on the adaptation of The Andromeda
    Strain and learned a few things, like how much of the set design and
    decoration was written into the adapted screenplay, that it was the
    first screenplay that comprehensively specified so much about the
    movie's look. The script had written out the computer displays, as an
    example, and all the fake reports to preserve the novel's feel that we
    were reading the official report written in the aftermath,

    And, yeah, it addressed how the crisis was resolved more optimistically
    in the movie versus the novel's darker ending, although not that it
    reused a plot point from The Day of the Triffids.

    . . .
    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From super70s@super70s@super70s.invalid to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 15:32:18 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    On 2026-05-24 18:42:11 +0000, BTR1701 said:

    On May 24, 2026 at 10:04:33 AM PDT, ""Adam H. Kerman"" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
    On 2026-05-24 12:46 a.m., Adam H. Kerman wrote:

    . . .

    The same two from the first video are listening to Lulu sing "To Sir,
    With Love", the theme from the movie. They talk about this actor who
    just passed away, without saying Sidney Poitier. She says he was the
    first black actor in Hollywood. I want to cry.

    Neither has seen him in a movie. He's at the peak of his career; they
    have no clue. She knew he won the Oscar but they've never heard of
    Lilies of the Field (1963). It's a buddy comedy with Lilia Skala.

    Poitier wasn't even the first black to win an Oscar. Wasn't that Hattie
    McDaniel in Gone With the Wind?

    She kept saying things that were obviously wrong without correcting
    herself, like not limiting her comments to lead actors. Obviously, yes,
    there were several actors who performed all the black servant roles who
    made a nice living for two decades or so. Among them, Hattie McDaniel is
    the only one who won best supporting actress.

    Harry Belafonte had a leading role in Carmen Jones (1954) with Dorothy
    Dandridge before Poitier. But Poitier is not important because he won the
    first Oscar for a black actor in a leading role only, but because he was
    so very commercially successful. He starred in a lot of movies that found
    an audience. Before Poitier, Hollywood never believed a black actor could
    find an audience. Where his movies were booked into theaters in the South
    by the late '60s, white moviegoers bought tickets.

    And now we've gone full 180 and you can't win an Oscar now unless your movie has black people in it, even if it means casting absurdities, like a black Helen of Troy.

    Sounds like more billion dollar presidential lawsuit bait to me, white
    actors were treated [doing my best Trump] "very very unfairly."

    ..."There was the time I was up for the lead in American Gangster and
    Denzel Washington got the role...people were saying I was born for that role..."

    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Adam H. Kerman@ahk@chinet.com to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 20:46:52 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:

    . . .

    Sounds like more billion dollar presidential lawsuit bait to me, white >actors were treated [doing my best Trump] "very very unfairly."

    ..."There was the time I was up for the lead in American Gangster and
    Denzel Washington got the role...people were saying I was born for that >role..."

    Would super70s be so kind as to shove a rusty pole so far up his ass it
    comes out his mouth? He drags Trump into every thread he participates
    in, guaranteeing its ruin.

    Godwin
    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From super70s@super70s@super70s.invalid to rec.arts.tv on Sun May 24 17:01:16 2026
    From Newsgroup: rec.arts.tv

    On 2026-05-24 20:46:52 +0000, Adam H. Kerman said:

    super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid> wrote:

    . . .

    Sounds like more billion dollar presidential lawsuit bait to me, white
    actors were treated [doing my best Trump] "very very unfairly."

    ..."There was the time I was up for the lead in American Gangster and
    Denzel Washington got the role...people were saying I was born for that
    role..."

    Would super70s be so kind as to shove a rusty pole so far up his ass it
    comes out his mouth? He drags Trump into every thread he participates
    in, guaranteeing its ruin.

    I knew I shouldn't have taken you out of the twit filter.

    My post wasn't any more "ruinous" than BTR1701's latest white grievance shot.

    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2