Failure To Communicate

"What we have here is failure to communicate.."

The line delivered by Strother Martin in Cool Hand Luke. I've had occasion to borrow this line in my message board crawls. The sad thing s, people take it for face value. That line wasn't delivered at face value, Captain knew that there was no misunderstanding, just as I do.

I don't use this line for the confused or obtuse poster. I don't post it to plead for understanding or as comic relief. I use it to point out that someone is not failing to understand a point, but refusing to.

Just as there was no doubt that Strother Martin, Paul Newman, and even George Kennedy were very well aware of the point being made, they all knew somebody was going into the box, as the poster knows that they belong there.

The subject matter being discussed seems to have little bearing on this phenomena, I've seen it happen arguing the merits of Van Halen albums and abortion, milkshakes and religion. The only common thread seems to be some personal dislike between posters, usually over anther earlier discussion.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this form of defense doesn't work, it does. The rational poster is usually either wore down or or just quits out of sheer boredom. The non-misunderstander then clams victory.

It's an empty victory, if you ask me.