Yeah, I should stop commenting on Neatorama and focus more on curing cancer.

I graduated from HS in Miami in 1988, so not many years after you. I don't think "the American school system" you mentioned changed that much in just a few years.

I didn't get the sense that my public high school had a "one-size-fits-all" policy. Some students were there for vocational training, others had college plans. Some took more science/math course, or more music courses, or more humanities courses. The state required certain education to graduate, like "at least the second semester of a foreign language", so I can see how that might be a 'one size', though my school offered Spanish, Italian, German, and Latin - perhaps others too. The state required a certain number of English courses, which my school offered in different varieties (eg, AP, college prep, and normal).

The sculptor, Will Salisbury, calls them "The 3 Crows" - http://willsalisbury.com/sculptor/index.php/3-crows/ .

The article describes the circumstances thusly: Weber’s career spanned a historical shift that since has been termed Hollywood’s “masculinization.” The conditions that favored women gave way to conditions that disfavored women. Studio employment became more stratified and networks of small independent studios merged into large conglomerates. The heterogeneity of early experiments solidified into the patterns of a “Hollywood film.” The cost of making a typical movie quadrupled after 1915, and gambling with high financial stakes didn’t seem suitable for women. Neither was women’s moralizing influence still necessary. By 1928, 65 million Americans, half the country’s population, were going to the movies every week. Universal went from eleven women directors to zero, and stayed that way for sixty years. When Weber told young women “don’t try it,” her intention, writes historian Shelley Stamp, was to save women the anguish of trying to succeed in a system that guaranteed their failure. .. The [Hays] code forbade subjects like drug trafficking and prostitution, and prohibited actresses from appearing in “compromising situations,” which effectively excluded women from both serious and comedic roles. ... She was often described in terms that stressed her deviance from the norm, as the only woman with stamina and brains enough for directing. ... It was a backhanded compliment: emphasizing Weber’s gender worked in tandem with designating her films the equivalent of chick flicks. Her audience was demarcated in smaller strokes, as when a new release was reviewed as suitable for “matinee children and women.”

Switching base isn't a unit change but rather a change of notation. Switch to base-2 and you'll still have that the circumference of a circle is 2*π*r (or τ*r for those so inclined). If you decide to switch to base-π for your numbering system then how many sides does a triangle have? "3.14" base 10 at only 3 significant digits is more accurate than "11.00100" base 2 (3.125 base 10). "3.24" base 16 is even more accurate. That's because the significance of a significant figure depends on the base. Trigonometry in the SI system is based on radians = units of π, not base-60/360 degrees. The decimal compass system is called the "gradian", with 100 gradians in a right angle. My calculator in school supported it.

No system of units can affect unitless numbers. That's why they are unitless.

"Deplorable" is not a synonym for "resident of flyover country", though there are certainly many attempts at rebranding. The top definition from your second source is 'Individual Trump supporter', with no one listing your definition. My question remains - why was it important to use a recent political term for a viewing audience from decades ago? An audience which included many Carter and Clinton supporters - Carter being not only from the Bible Belt but a deeply committed Christian for his whole life, and Clinton being from 'flyover country'. As others here have pointed out (and in the Wikipedia entry), it was also 'must-see-TV' for many people on the coasts, including major cities. Surely "country folk" is a more descriptive, more correct, and less divisive term.

It's also interesting how the music lends an ominous tone to the film.