(In reply to the aside: I modded him up too. Some people mod up and down based on whether the comment is on-topic, polite and well-thought-out. Others mod up and down based on agreement with the thought. Guidelines for each are not immediately obvious.)
Yeah, I'm more of the first type. I'll mod something up if it's on-topic, well thought-out, and I agree with it. I'll only mod something down if it's blatantly off topic and rude/trollish. If I simply don't agree with what they said, but they said it in useful way, I'll just leave it be.
I'm all about modding the people who post goatse links down into negative oblivion, but I think it kind of stifles discussion if you downmod simply because you don't happen to agree. Instead of dog-piling someone for a dissenting opinion, take the extra 30 seconds to write a response. It'll enrich the discussion.
Discussions about moderation are pretty boring, but I will say that I was one of the ones who modded the original comment down, mostly because I thought that the suggestion that Hollywood is deliberately trying to "brainwash" people into accepting "American values" was just plain silly, and also showed a poor understanding of what "brainwashing" really means, not to mention a poor understanding of how Hollywood works.
You think both are false, or Hollywood is brainwashing, just not for American values?
I am under the impression that for example the theme "sacrifice yourself for the common good" is pushed excessively in Hollywood, and I consider it to be brainwashing and American-valueish. In any case, most movies have a kind of moral they want to force upon their viewers. Another common theme is adultery, where cheaters make valid "shock effect victims" (ie if somebody has to die, at least make it the cheater, he is not such a big loss for society).
