I am not sure where to jump in here, but he goes. The military is all about control and manipulation. When you control other people you are a "leader"; when you control yourself you are "disciplined"; and when you let others control you, you are "loyal" or "dedicated. but its all about control. Ryan, like everybody else, came into the RW house with some plan of some sort to get a career bounce out of the show, and he used his experiences from the military i.e. control in that direction. I submit to you three things happened with him: 1) he controlled his warm fuzziness to try to get as many fans as possible to help with his career; 2) he controlled his soldier image somewhat perhaps because that was part of his story and somewhat because IMO the whole story involved the PTSD which he clearly has symptoms of but I think he was downplaying it to protect his parents because the dailies made it clear that he put them through some sort of emotional hell; and 3) the cast members he clearly dislikes (Sarah and Kat) had their own control issues going on and he couldn't manipulate them the way he wanted so he hates them--and by manipulate, I mean get the reactions out of them he wanted not in the make them a puppet sense of the word. I suggest that the reason he HATES Sarah so much is because if you watch the dailies clip where JD smashed the table, Ryan lost control of his emotions a minute and talked about almost having been killed which is the only time he does that and Sarah was not sympathetic and turned it on him making him look "fake" for getting in her face when she knew a lot more about him than he did about her. I am not saying Ryan is fake at all---to me that stuff is what makes him so damn interesting.
It wouldn't shock me if he said what he said nor would it shock me if he did not. He is in a different situation and has to adapt to that situation--I guess a comparison would be you are a different person with your parents than with your friends than with your minister and you say different things and have different attitudes---it is human nature. But for the phone call from his mom I might would believe he knew already going in since the PA Guard was already planning to go to Iraq when the show was filming and he was supposed to go with them originally. I do not believe that his mother, however, would have been complicit in the scheme and I think Ryan's emotions were very very real. It was possible he knew in the sense that the writing was on the wall not in the sense that he had his 400 days orders in hand and what we saw was that fear realized even though he suspected it coming.
As for the issue regarding his war experience, it is more complicated. Ryan was stationed in an occupation position where the threats were largely assymetrical--i.e. snipers and IED's which may not have been as dangerous as straight up symmetrical heavy engagements but was very psychologically harmful because of the constant anticipation of an attack about which you could do nothing and to which there wouldn't be much in the way of shooting back. The infantry is geared toward symmetrical warfare and so is the training. The fact that he may not have had a lot of traditional engagements does not mitigate the honor in his having been there nor the effects that may have had on him.
THIS KID IS A PERSON NOT A TV CHARACTER. He has all the inconsistencies, flaws, etc that we all do. He also is a person who wants to do well and do better in life like we all do. Since he has put himself out there, I think he is open to a fair discussion, but I don't think people should get too vested in him one way or the other. Nobody is perfect and very few are as awful as we think they might be. I like and respect Ryan and will defend him against what I think are unfounded allegations, but I do not think he is a God. He is just interesting.
Now I really wish all the more that there would be a "G.I. Ryan" action figure. He's such a great role model for young people (and adults). I particularly love his honesty and integrity.
I would get the Baya Barbie also and make the two of them smooch. Of course I would make the cuckolded but understanding IndySkye Ken doll be best friends with the Ryan figure and they would go on adventures to tropical beaches where they would put on their optional little swimsuit accessories.
Oh, just thinking about that kung fu grip...
[quote=IndySkye;107789]Now I really wish all the more that there would be a "G.I. Ryan" action figure. He's such a great role model for young people (and adults). I particularly love his honesty and integrity.
I would get the Baya Barbie also and make the two of them smooch. Of course I would make the cuckolded but understanding IndySkye Ken doll be best friends with the Ryan figure and they would go on adventures to tropical beaches where they would put on their optional little swimsuit accessories.
Oh, just thinking about that kung fu grip...[/quote]
I. Love. You :girl_haha:
[quote=OtherPplsDrama;108087]That video was so sweet. I teared up...[/quote]
I know. I just got around to watching it...hot damn. Ryan joins my list of favorite people on the real world. Coral Smith, Mike Mizanin, Brad Fiorenza, and Ryan Conklin.
[quote=blanky667;108127]I thought the video was very nice, and I enjoyed it a lot. He has major video editing skills.[/quote]
I noticed that too. Even in Iraq! :girl_sigh:
[quote=tjhallow;108089]I know. I just got around to watching it...hot damn. Ryan joins my list of favorite people on the real world. Coral Smith, Mike Mizanin, Brad Fiorenza, and Ryan Conklin.[/quote]
You +5000 points for Coral making your list. :acute:
I liked the video but my first thought was "Wonder if BMP/MTV are going to come after him for copyright infringement". I've heard MTV at least is militant about protecting its content.
[quote=SeanDaniel;108254]I liked the video but my first thought was "Wonder if BMP/MTV are going to come after him for copyright infringement". I've heard MTV at least is militant about protecting its content.[/quote]
I was wondering the same thing.
[quote=OtherPplsDrama;108272]That would be pretty darn petty if they did.[/quote]
They wouldn't do it directly. They would just ask youtube to take it down and they would.
[quote=SeanDaniel;108872]IMO that is the best of his songs that I have heard.[/quote]
I agree, it is my favorite song by him. I was always wondering why didn't sing that for the audition.
[quote=tjhallow;108885]I agree, it is my favorite song by him. I was always wondering why didn't sing that for the audition.[/quote]
It was all Chet's fault for choosing the Tampon Song.
[quote=GeauxWave;108923]It was all Chet's fault for choosing the Tampon Song.[/quote]
Or Ryan's fault for letting Chet choose the Tampon song. It may have been he thought he would get to play a few songs. That producer was a jerk--he could have given some words of encouragement instead of "go home and play in your basement with your friends" or whatever the hell it was.
I think the Tampon song is a pretty high-minded concept but it is not something you are going to be able to sell a million copies of and it still is a novelty song despite the creativity of it.
My favorite Ryan song so far is The World Through Me. Most of the notes fit within his range. I think this song has the best commercial possibility. I could see it added to a movie soundtrack.
I would love to hear some of Ryan's songs after they are processed through Auto-Tune. Since almost all songs are made to be pitch perfect anymore, hearing pitchy notes sung by anyone really stands out. Also, I wonder if he should bring a few of his songs down to a lower key. Some of his notes sound like they are outside of his natural range.
[quote=salt&vinegar;108998]His music reminds me of Kris Allen.[/quote]
I can kind of see why you think that & agree I guess. I love however that Ryan seems to fashion himself a rocker in his own head but his music really is not rock at all in the way I think of the term.
Scott, Baya, and Chet did a response video for Ryan.
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKzSjRKW5wU"][/URL][URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKzSjRKW5wU"]YouTube - What's up Ryan A. Conklin![/URL]
Does anyone get the idea that Devyn isn't as chummy chummy with the rest of them? I always see tweets about the cast hanging out together in NY but no one ever mentions Devyn. Kind of weird how she isn't in that video.
I always see chet or the others tweeting or mentioning Katelynn and Sarah but I just never really hear anything about Devyn. Maybe a rift?
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