dave@cylixd.UUCP (Dave Kirby) (10/04/85)
I received the following in the mail today, and thought it was worth
posting:
Subject: proof that no movies are totally bad
I note that you've dropped "Plan 9 From Outer Space" from your list of
totally bad movies on the grounds that it is so bad that it is good. While
I have not seen the film myself, I am reminded of the proof that there are
no uninteresting numbers:
Proof by Contradiction: list all uninteresting numbers in order of
"interestingness". The number at the end of the list is the least
interesting, which certainly makes it interesting! Delete it from
the list. But this leaves another number, which is now the least
interesting. Delete it too, and iterate until the list is empty,
ie., there are no uninteresting numbers. Q.E.D.
From reports I've heard (on the net and elsewhere) Plan 9 is not good
because it's bad; it's BAD. This makes it amusing to watch, but does not
make it a good movie. Delete it from your list, and you'll just be left
with another "worst" movie.
I consider the "cult following" aspect to be an uninteresting point. If
you disagree with this, of course, my remarks are moot.
John Hogg
Computer Systems Research Institute, UofT
{allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsri!hogg
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Your remarks are quite relevant, John. I hope posting them will
stimulate some good discussion on the net about what constitutes
a "totally bad movie."
I had dropped "Plan 9" because the enthusiastic mail I got about it
caused me to consider that most people on the net attached an additional
criterion to my first set of rules. So I added the new rule ("The movie
must be offensive to anyone who watches it, to where it was a total
waste of time") and in doing so disqualified "Plan 9."
But the question to be resolved is this:
IS PLAN 9 A TOTALLY BAD MOVIE? SHOULD THIS NEW RULE BE DROPPED?
I eagerly await everyone's opinions.
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Dave Kirby ( ...!ihnp4!akgub!cylixd!dave)
(The views expressed herein are the exclusive property of Dave Kirby.
Any person, living or dead, found with the same or similar opinions
will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of law.)