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Post by zombiewhacker on Jul 13, 2015 15:53:52 GMT -5
I was watching The Mole People last night. In one early scene, archaeologist John Agar is surveying ruins somewhere in "Asia" when he stumbles upon an ancient stone tablet. The moment he turns the stone over, revealing ersartz hieroglyphics underneath, one the riffers cries out: "Peace on earth is all it said!"
For the record, this obscure riff is apparently a shout-out to a lyric from the 70s folk band Coven's song "One Tin Soldier" which was heard during the opening credits scene for the movie Billy Jack.
(Whew!)
My point is, the moment the riff was made, I got the pop culture reference and, of course, laughed out loud. But then, I'm thinking, whoa, how fast do brain neurons have to fire for someone to process a thought sequence like that?
John Agar -> Billy Jack in milliseconds flat?
For me, watching MST3K is sometimes like playing one of those online games that are supposed to train your brain to think faster or solve puzzles quicker or whatever. The bots make a reference seemingly unrelated to anything happening on the screen and you're thinking, "Wait, what's he talking about? What'd I miss?" Then instantly your mind is racing to solve the puzzle in the time allotted (e.g., before the next riff.)
So one minute you're suffering through a Coleman Francis disaster when suddenly one of the riffers shouts out "Look! Amon Goeth on guitar!" Then boom! -- your brain is off to the races: "What? -- oh, wait, the guitar player -- hey, he does look like Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List! Now I get it! " Congrats, you solved that puzzle in under five seconds! Good job!
Seriously, I'm wondering whether a steady diet of MST3K will help hone one's mental alertness. Remind me when they put me in the old folk's home to take my MST3K DVD's with me.
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Torgo
Moderator Emeritus 
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
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Post by Torgo on Jul 13, 2015 15:58:01 GMT -5
My IQ proves this theory incorrect.
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Post by Cubey on Jul 17, 2015 12:39:01 GMT -5
It can make you more clever in how you respond to people. Sort of, riffing real life.
The other day someone (about age 20) said "never judge a book by it's cover!" and I retorted "Unless it says 'Mein Kampf' on the cover" but the joke was lost on him, he didn't know what that was. His mom got the joke and chuckled, as did some of the others (all older folks) who got the joke.
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Post by kmorgan on Jul 17, 2015 21:24:19 GMT -5
Well, it certainly makes you feel smarter. And, if you take the trouble to look up the source of a riff, you can easily find yourself studying the subject even further.
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Post by Mike Flugennock on Jul 18, 2015 12:35:27 GMT -5
Well, I certainly know more about classic filmmakers and filmmaking from watching MST3K and having to look up "Syd Field" and "Odessa Steps Sequence" in order to understand the jokes. In fact, having been college-educated, I already got a lot of the jokes about science, arts, culture, philosophy and literature, but still had to look up some of the more obscure cinema history references.
As I was a big science geek in school, I already got the references to Feynman and Bohr, and phenomena like "wormholes".
For me, that was one of the coolest things about MST3K: it wasn't enough to be up on obscure pop-culture references, you really had to know some stuff to get the jokes.
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Post by Mike Flugennock on Jul 18, 2015 12:39:52 GMT -5
It can make you more clever in how you respond to people. Sort of, riffing real life. The other day someone (about age 20) said "never judge a book by it's cover!" and I retorted "Unless it says 'Mein Kampf' on the cover" but the joke was lost on him, he didn't know what that was. His mom got the joke and chuckled, as did some of the others (all older folks) who got the joke. I used to believe that, but lately I've found myself thinking that maybe one can judge a book by the cover. Take, for instance, your modern pumped-out, mass-marketed detective or romance novels; these days it seems that the more splashy and ostentatious the cover is, the worse the book. It's like whenever I see a movie trailer on TV announcing that "(Insert name of movie) is the number one movie in America!" my first immediate thought is almost always "ha, I'll bet it's a stinkburger!" |
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Jul 19, 2015 19:26:01 GMT -5
I don't know that MST3K on its own will make you smarter. I *do* think that it can encourage the kinds of behaviors that lead to the mental exercises and thought patterns that can make you smarter.
And as a related topic, if you pursue riffs that you don't know and seek information on them to understand the joke, it *definitely* makes you more knowledgeable, albeit in incremental ways.
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Post by toonfeline on Jul 19, 2015 20:15:18 GMT -5
Either than learning to be a better riffer from observation from watching the show, I don't think it'll make you too much smarter. I mainly become smarter by studying and experience.
Although, watching MST3K made me make riffs in my head on things I saw (both on TV and in real life). Some of which, I would say out loud. I was at a fur con last year where attendees got to participate in trying to solve a mystery, and during opening ceremonies, while the chairman was explaining how to solve the mystery, he held up a sheet with a blue paw print on it. He said that if you see anything with this paw print on it, that would be one of the clues, and I yelled out "BLUES CLUES!" and everyone in the room laughed their asses off! XD
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Post by milospinstripe on Jul 29, 2015 8:17:56 GMT -5
It can make you more clever in how you respond to people. Sort of, riffing real life. The other day someone (about age 20) said "never judge a book by it's cover!" and I retorted "Unless it says 'Mein Kampf' on the cover" but the joke was lost on him, he didn't know what that was. His mom got the joke and chuckled, as did some of the others (all older folks) who got the joke.
From Wild Rebels: (After seeing Nazi flag on the wall of the shanty the 60's intellectual biker stereotypes.)
CROW: "Wow look at all the books up there, The biographies of Pat Buchanan, Mein Kamph."
SERVO: "So, honey, how long you been working on the David Duke campaign."
That line kills me every time. Especially since I met David Duke in person on two occasions, being a N.O. resident. He's a kook.
I do believe in a sense that MST makes you at the very least more aware, or worldly, of things like pop culture and historical figures. When I don't understand a reference, sometimes it bothers me so much that I have to look it up to see what the heck they are talking about. And do you know what? I've never regretted doing so.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Aug 5, 2015 2:07:18 GMT -5
It's a good habit to have.
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Post by mrsphyllistorgo on Aug 6, 2015 15:24:34 GMT -5
Wait, that line was Amon Goeth? I always heard it as Babe Ruth!
I guess the smart powers ain't working on me.
Seriously, though, while merely watching MST (or any other show) on its own won't make you smarter, any more then sleeping on a textbook would, the rapid fire jokes can make you curious. What's this or that mean? And curiosity is what awakens intelligence.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Aug 10, 2015 11:56:19 GMT -5
Seriously, though, while merely watching MST (or any other show) on its own won't make you smarter, any more then sleeping on a textbook would, the rapid fire jokes can make you curious. What's this or that mean? And curiosity is what awakens intelligence. I think that's part of why, in a roundabout way, MST3K *does* work to make you smarter, even if it's not a direct one. It inspires a love of smartness even if it doesn't lead to intelligence on its own, much like how the show Reading Rainbow inspired a love of reading even if it didn't focus on the mechanics of reading. But you don't have to take MY word for it... |
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Post by shakinaiken on Aug 10, 2015 22:31:11 GMT -5
My IQ proves this theory incorrect. incessant contact with Mst3k certainly imbues modesty... that can't be disputed |
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Post by shakinaiken on Aug 10, 2015 22:35:44 GMT -5
Well, it certainly makes you feel smarter. And, if you take the trouble to look up the source of a riff, you can easily find yourself studying the subject even further. Agree. Though occasionally research leads to knowledge that's neither requisite nor desirable. for instance, i know far too much about Dan Haggerty than is generally necessitated for the common person. |
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Aug 27, 2015 10:36:14 GMT -5
My IQ proves this theory incorrect. incessant contact with Mst3k certainly imbues modesty... that can't be disputed Valid point. Sometimes I wonder if a bit of the Internet's current "comeback culture" is regrettably caused by MST3K. I doubt it's the sole cause or even the biggest contributor, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's helped to feed into it a bit. |
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