Posted on 04/06/2014 12:54:57 AM PDT by Rummyfan
It’s exactly as the sentence reads.
“Mark Steyn” antecedent, “he pronoun for Mark Steyn.
Marching around here constantly telling the kids, It sounds like a good story But I just don’t know who (the hell) is who with all those pronouns.
Just say it, type it- “Always thought Brando was...” It’s three more letters, but, I guess a whole lot of thinking work you’d rather have your audience do, like the kids around here.
Call me a pain, but I try to talk to kids, and I tell them directly what will make them desirable to be around when theyre grown up. And mumbling isn’t it.
I always like the sequence in Godfather in which Brando puts an orange in his mouth to entertain his little grand son. As Brando grins wildly, the obviously surprised child breaks into hysterical tears. It’s touching how Brando, obviously shocked, remains in character but tries to soothe the kid.
He handles the kitten with great gentleness.
Great actors handle “props” amazingly well. They sometimes become the extension of the actor’s hand.
Good grammar or bad grammar, people really don’t care. It’s just that people who use good grammar and read well written books are not used to doing all the work of imagining who you’re talking about, and they don’t appreciate your making fun of their being intelligent when they try to follow what you are saying.
Most audiences who do not do that are of the type who laugh at the appropriate moments and grab another beer just to change the subject.
If you say a name and then use a pronoun, that’s who you’re talking about.
But you can abuse those who follow rules all you want. They still won’t know what you’re talking about when you do it again.
I get the vague impression that Steyn is not a Brando fan.
I see that you're new here. Freepers never pass up an opportunity to pick a nit.
“I know decent grammar ... I just choose not to labor over it in...”
You choose to let the reader do the labor of trying to make sense of what you’re saying.
But then you do the labor of ridiculing them when they guess wrongly.
We are trying to get through the remarks on this wonderful Steyn piece and have to read your abusive monologue, when all you had to do was put in the “Labor” of thinking “brando’ instead of ‘he’.
And there are so many, in life, who do what you did, here. And wonder why no one pays any attention to them.
Take a look at the poster’s history that Old Lady posted upthread. This idiot was antagonistic to people in every post, and it’s a wonder it was allowed to live as long as it did.
Mark Steyn ping.
Freepmail me, if you want on or off the Mark Steyn ping list.
Thanks for the ping Slings and Arrows.
True, but I read it as a review of his life. And I found it interesting.
When I saw Brando in ‘On the Waterfront’, only recently, I wondered what happened to him.
THe movie is brilliant. I just sent a copy to my ailing young relative.
Steyn lets me know just what happened to him, and many bitter spoiled people.
No, I appreciate your observations and responses, as always.
I didn’t see him with Larry King and I haven’t read the Capote piece either. Of course Brando was (seemed to be) a man consisting almost entirely of his appetites, which would surely bring out the fangs of Capote, who was the same only with wholly different tastes.
I am a terrible filmologist and live off bits of movies and readings about movies largely from 20 and more years ago.
I saw a piece of film (some cable channel) of Brando in the early years, he and a couple hangers-on and then (as I recall it) a beautiful young woman conducting an interview, all of them sitting in a kind of circular booth in a diner.
Brando was by turns very shy, nervous and suddenly alive with strength, brashness and raw charisma-—the young woman was flirting with him, kind of trying to toy with him, but at moments it was obvious that this was a very powerful and dangerous toy.
He seemed callow but not stupid.
An acquaintance of mine wrote the screenplay for Missouri Breaks and I remember reading an interview with him in which he spoke of Brando’s nightmarish interference, with daily demands for rewrites of nearly the entire film, issued from the “sickbed” Brando had taken to for most of the film, complaining of various silly and disgusting ailments.
But there were also some quotes from Jack Nicholson in the piece who described Brando’s tremendous presence, even as he routinely stalked by Nicholson without so much as a glance. “Not much for leavin’s in his wake is there,” Nicholson grinned as Brando swept by tornado-like at one point.
I quite agree. An ‘edit’ button would be a great boon. Particularly when typing on a phone.
Brando was a wonderful actor. I’d only seen him in his later movies. Godfather is one of my favorites, but I hate the scene with the horse.
I’ve never seen his movies from the 50s. Yes, I’ll admit it. I’ll look them up and view them thanks to this thread.
Yes he did.
You’re only 2-1/2 years older than I am, O Ancient FReeper! ;-P
Oh, I know. I just like to keep my grammar correction verbal up to speed. Not too ‘Sister Hyacinth’, but instructive.
t’s a fight I have around the house and beyond. I teach ninth graders.
I tell them I’d love to know what you are saying but I just cannot follow with all the inappropriately placed ‘hims’ and ‘theys’, expecting the listener to do all the work, but the listener is just not that invested, then resentful at time wasted.
Grammar cops always are hated, yet, I’m truly just trying to follow the story.
May I be allowed onto your DO NOT RESPOND TO ME EVER list?
Could this be the original Dobbs?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/33158682@N06/3472333562/
I am not affiliated in anyway with Retrospace, but love the stuff he puts up.
That’s the beauty of the Zot! You already are on the list!
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