Closing the Parody Moon Thread

Seems a bit odd that this thread which was featured on the main Straight Dope page as the latest “Best of the Straight Dope Message Board” would be closed.

I’m glad they did. It probably wouldn’t have bothered me if it had been in the Pit. But I thought that it was out of place for IMHO. It was poking fun at someone who was genuinely ignorant of the WTC before 9/11/2001, and as I pointed out, fighting ignorance by mocking it, IMO, is against the Dope’s philosophy. It is likely to encourage others not to try to find answers to things they didn’t know about out of fear of being ridiculed. To me, it is only odd that the mods didn’t take action sooner.

I agree that it sucks, but it isn’t against the rules, and thus I don’t see any reason to close it. I thought that parody threads went into the Pit, but I’ve been told otherwise.

Furthermore, we mock ignorance all the time here. It’s not my favorite thing we do, but it is not only done but encouraged.

It happened once before that a current Threadspotting thread was closed.

You think that the Mods could wait two days until a new Threadspotting went up.

“Closing parody thread” is hardly an explanation. Was it closed because it was a parody? If it was, shouldn’t it be in the rules somewhere that parody threads are not allowed? If it wasn’t, why not mention the real reason?

I recall a rule or at least pecident where parody threads are supposed to come with a link to the thread they are mocking.

This one did get linked, albeit in post #7.

I was sorry to see it locked because it had some funny. Although it made the parodied thread’s OP seem silly, that wasn’t its reason for existence.

To me it was a fun take on how each generation rediscovers the world, and how minor events of childhood take on iconic significance.

Or maybe it was just people being meanies. I don’t know.

I’m also eager to hear an explanation for why it was closed.

It was a simple fun thread. I can’t see any good reason for why it was closed. Because it was a parody? Who cares? People were having fun, and saying goofy fun stuff. In light of the fact that it made threadspotting it was interesting and fun enough to garner the attention of the powers that be. So. What’s the deal?

Czarcasm?

The thread was mean and cowardly bullying, if people were having fun, it was at the Op’s expense. It’s one thing to make fun of someone, it’s a completely different thing to turn a whole group against them.

How was it bullying? Maybe I am just seeing things through rose colored glasses, but I just thought the parody thread OP was taking the WTC thread to a ridiculous extreme. Saying “What if the moon was something people could overlook?” Lightly jabbing Rodgers, certainly not bullying him.

So now to parody is to bully? Sheesh, it was light-hearted fun, are we now such sensitive plants that we can’t josh around with each other and parody each other’s threads?

Can’t say I picked up on the bullying aspect myself. It was good enough to make Threadspotting but bad enough to be closed? :confused:

So you’ve never seen one of Cecil’s columns?

Seriously? Bullying? Oh, brother…

Sorry, maybe i just read it wrong. It reminded me of one of those times when all the kids are ganging up on one kid, while all secretly thinking in the back of their minds "I feel sorry for him but I’m just glad it’s not me”, like when my friends and I spent an entire bus ride spitting on some kids back.

And now I realize I’m full of it because when I first read the thread it was prior to the original OP joining the fun.

So… (changing subject)

How’s the weather?

It was a fun and harmless thread. If it was in the wrong forum, it could have been moved. Since a mod had already merged two threads, I’m surprised that it was then closed.

Why won’t Czarcasm offer explanation?

Australians: did you know what closing down threads was before the Moon thread was closed?