# Dame Edna can lick my huevos **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 10, 2003, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035 "2003-02-10T05:03:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Chaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chaco)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/61 "2003-02-10T20:21:32Z")
Everyone is assuming that I knew who the fuck this person was before I read this. I have been talking to people and explaining to them who Dame Edna is and somehow they still don’t find it humorous. To respond to the countless people who said that I didn’t read the article I invite you to read the OP again. I knew that this was supposed to be satire yet I still didn’t find it funny. Now that I have read about this in detail I have lightened up. Everybody is busy assuming that I have no sense of humor and that I have a shotgun up my ass, or something. It is a joke. Fine. All hail Dame Edna. S/he is the great whoosher and I admire him/her for that. Whatever. Maybe I should have read a Dame Edna book or rented some of her shows or something. From now on, I will do heavy research everytime someone says something offensive to me. That way I won’t come out as a pigheaded asshole. Will that help me grow up? I accept that Dame Edna is not a racist. I also accept that I may have over reacted. My point is that this is obviously offending people. Not everyone is as enlightened as everyone on this board. Satire, in whatever form can hurt. Does anyone remember the blackface minstrels? I am sure that many people defended it and said that it was just satire and lighthearted humor. That hurt and offended people even though it was a joke. My example may not be directly analagous but it points to the fact that what may be funny to some is not to others. I still believe that VF should have been a little more careful and I don’t think that I need to become a suscriber to say that. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/62 "2003-02-10T20:25:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yojimbo \* > \*\*I’ve been trying to get people to agree that Jonathan Swift was oneof the sickest fucks who ever walked on this planet and people laugh at me. \*\* Mr. Swift was definately not a “sick fuck”. Though snails may not be palatable to many uncultured Americans, only the most boorish would describe the French as “sick fucks” for advocating the consumption of escargo. Why then, must you denigrate the cultured taste of Mr. Swift regarding his suggestions for a civilized meal? I am truly suprised that you would be so ignorant to refined culinary tastes. I have sampled roasted children from many cultures, and it can not be denied that the Irish are the most tasty and succulent. I recommend they be served in a light garlic butter sauce, a pinch of rosemary, and accompanied by a fine Merlot. [size=1]There’s a joke about “tater-tots” somewhere in here that’s just dying to be made - but I’m not going to do it[/size=1] ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/63 "2003-02-10T20:35:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chaco \* > \*\*From now on, I will do heavy research everytime someone says something offensive to me. That way I won’t come out as a pigheaded asshole. Will that help me grow up? > > (and) > > My point is that this is obviously offending people. Not everyone is as enlightened as everyone on this board. Satire, in whatever form can hurt.\*\* Doing “heavy research” on someone, and knowing the context of their words are two different things. I’ve heard of Dame Edna, but I’m by no means familiar with her work - but when I read that article though I understood it to be satirical and laughed. No research necessary. You say satire can hurt. I say it’s supposed to. ---
**Author:** ![Daikona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Daikona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daikona)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/64 "2003-02-10T20:36:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chaco \* > \*\*My point is that this is obviously offending people. \*\* It’s offending people who don’t have the mental capacity to recognize the nature of something that couldn’t be more satirical if it had a giant blinking neon sign that said “I am not serious”. If you’re going to be offended that easily, you deserve to be surrounded by things that offend you. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/65 "2003-02-10T20:52:45Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Chaco** _ > > Everyone is assuming that I knew who the fuck this person was before I read this. Which was, of course, your first mistake, which would be passing judgement and denegrating something with no knowledge of it whatsoever. > [@](#): > > I have been talking to people and explaining to them who Dame Edna is and somehow they still don’t find it humorous. Some people will be offended no matter what. I wonder - do you find [The Onion](http://www.theonion.com) offensive? Thankfully, satire is alive and well. > [@](#): > > Now that I have read about this in detail I have lightened up. Hooray! > [@](#): > > From now on, I will do heavy research everytime someone says something offensive to me. That way I won’t come out as a pigheaded asshole. Will that help me grow up? Yes, it will. Hooray! > [@](#): > > I accept that Dame Edna is not a racist. Hooray! > [@](#): > > I also accept that I may have over reacted. Hooray! > [@](#): > > Satire, in whatever form can hurt. Then I daresay it’s not satire’s fault, as satire is _intended_ to skewer established social conventions. To wit: > [@](#): > > Main Entry: **sat·ire** > Pronunciation: 'sa-"tIr > Function: _noun_ > Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin _satura, satira,_ perhaps from _(lanx) satura_ dish of mixed ingredients, from feminine of _satur_ well-fed; akin to Latin _satis_ enough – more at SAD > Date: 1501 > **1** : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn > **2** : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly > synonym see WIT It is a shame that people are offended by this piece, but in this particular case I’m really feeling they’re bringing it on themselves. It is satire, and it is meant to be in favor of them by showing how ridiculous the position is, not somehow denigrate them by in any way stating the position is true. Heaven knows I’ve been offended before, sometimes even by things when the orginal author/speaker _did not in any way intend it to be offensive_, but I think in this particular case those who are taking offense are _woefully_ ignorant of which they lamet against. > [@](#): > > My example may not be directly analagous but it points to the fact that what may be funny to some is not to others. Well thank goodness for freedom of expression! And even though I consider “PC” to mean “plain courtesy” in most cases, I will admit that my liberal brothers and sisters oft take it to an uncalled-for extreme. Esprix ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/66 "2003-02-10T20:56:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Estilicon \* > \*\*I > > “Don Quixote” is the greatest novel of the greatest ibero-american writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616). > \*\* ibero-american? ---
**Author:** ![Chaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Chaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chaco)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/67 "2003-02-10T21:34:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Esprix \* > \*\* > I wonder - do you find [The Onion](http://www.theonion.com) offensive? > \*\* You bring up an interesting point. I have been a fan of _The Onion_ for several years. Why is it that _The Onion_ has never been quouted as being derogatory? They get pretty nasty and some of their pieces can be pretty offensive. Could it be because they are known as a satirical publication and _Vanity Fair_ is not? Let me explain how I heard about this and how it is being told to most people: 1. Vanity Fair said…(Wait a minute let me research this because from my understanding Vanity Fair is a fairly respectable publication and they wouldn’t let this slide) 2. Dame Edna said…(Who is Dame Edna) 3. He is satirist…(OK, I guess it’s suppossed to be funny, I mean come on nobody calls Latinos the help or leaf blowers:rolleyes:) 4. OK, he is trying to expose the ignorance. A lot of people have not gotten past the first step and a few are at the second. I agree that if we got past all the steps, then maybe we wouldn’t be as pissed. Also, > [@](#): > > a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn Ignorance and racism is a human vice or folly not the Spanish Language or the Help/Leaf Blower. This is where the joke gets lost. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/68 "2003-02-10T21:58:07Z")
😕 How is equating Latinos to “the help” **not** racism? I thought that’s what this was all about? Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/69 "2003-02-10T22:04:34Z")
Look, a drag queen comedienne, whose schtick is being an old fuddy-duddy not with the times, writes a satirical puff piece in a social rag that has no bearing on the world as we know it. Then, when given incomplete and unresearched third-hand knowledge of it, the masses are outraged. Why are you defending ignorance? Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/70 "2003-02-10T22:29:38Z")
chaco, see here is the mistake: 1. Vanity Fair said…(Wait a minute let me research this because from my understanding Vanity Fair is a fairly respectable publication and they wouldn’t let this slide Vanity Fair does so publish satire all the time, in their Vanities section. Another example of a regular feature is called Nan, a socialite who writes about the uber-rich in a satirical manner. The ENTIRE section of Vanities is pretty much a satire: Ins and Outs, whos who, that interviewer guy (he did Suzy this last time)… I have a question: Had Dame Edna said something similar about Chinese… would you have felt the same moral outrage? Would you have signed a petition then? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/71 "2003-02-10T23:48:35Z")
Hey **Chaco** , are you short? 'Cause short people got nobody to love. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/72 "2003-02-11T00:20:02Z")
I particularly love this line from the article **chaco** [cited](http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/showcase/la-et-rutten8feb08.story) above: > [@](#): > > “Dame Edna could have chosen any number of amusing responses,” the letter says, “however, she responded using cheap, two-dimensional stereotypes of Latinos and Latin Americans, _revealing not only her racism, but also her profound ignorance of who we are._” The letter noted the striking dissonance between Dame Edna’s response and the same issue’s cover story, a fawning profile of Mexican actress Salma Hayek, whom Vanity Fair’s headline writers celebrate for drawing “on her heritage to produce and star in ‘Frida,’ the hit biopic about Mexico’s iconic artist, Frida Kahlo.” > _emphasis mine_ The idiocy functions on so many levels. First, speaking of ‘profound ignorance’ of who somebody is, how about the speaker’s profound ignorance as to the identity of the author of the piece? It reads like they think Dame Edna is a real person, answering a real letter. She could have chosen a different response? She wrote the letter along with the response! The author of the LA Times piece then goes on to highlight their complete and total non-understanding of the concept of satire by acting like the stance taken in the Dame Edna piece and the slant of the magazine’s cover story could somehow conflict. Reading through the rest of the article, it only gets worse. Is it just me, or is there no attribution on that piece? It occurred to me to dash off a quick note to let the author know what an idiot they were, but it would seem to be impossible. ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/73 "2003-02-11T00:42:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chaco \* > \*\*You bring up an interesting point. I have been a fan of _The Onion_ for several years. Why is it that _The Onion_ has never been quouted as being derogatory? \*\* Maybe because the political-interest reactionaries didn’t see [this article](http://www.theonion.com/onion3014/beef.html), those poor, unskilled, lethargic, sleepy, easily tracked, bean-eating bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Cosmopolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Cosmopolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cosmopolitan)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/74 "2003-02-11T00:50:56Z")
My brain hurts. Apparently, all it takes to offend some people is for certain _words_ to show up in a routine or a piece of writing; context has no bearing on whether these folks take offense or not. If you wanna be purposefully obtuse & not make any effort to distinguish between satire & slurs, have fun. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/75 "2003-02-11T01:05:14Z")
Hey **Chaco** , what do you think of this? ---
**Author:** ![No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/no_me_ayudes_compadre/32/5224_2.png) [@No\_Me\_Ayudes\_Compadre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Me_Ayudes_Compadre)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/76 "2003-02-11T01:43:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cosmopolitan \* > \*\*My brain hurts. Apparently, all it takes to offend some people is for certain _words_ to show up in a routine or a piece of writing; context has no bearing on whether these folks take offense or not. > \*\* What a niggardly thing to say. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/77 "2003-02-11T02:03:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CBEscapee \* > \*\*ibero-american? \*\* Spain and Spanish-speaking Americas… If he had said just Spanish, people could think he was only referring as the greatest author of Spain. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/78 "2003-02-11T02:04:24Z")
I am a great admirer of Barry Humprries (the creator of Dame Edna) and I will watch anything on TV that has Dame Edna in it. Notwithstanding, any australian of my age is well aware that Humphries is deeply conservative and frequently scathing and dismissive on subjects such as empowerment of minorities. I can live with that, and when it comes up in his humour I make allowances. But I recognise that the regular and highly unfairSDMB pile-on is going on here. Chaco is being picked on, in a way that a poster with an established reputation would never be, and that smells too much of school-yard bullying for me. My take on this? Chaco: I feel offended by this piece. SDMB regular: You just don’t get it, it’s meant to be funny. Chaco: Yes but I feel offended by it. SDMB regular: Well, you shouldn’t. The guy’s a genius! Chaco: Well, I dunno, I still feel offended by it. Another SDMB regular: You’re not! Can’t you get that right you blockhead! You are NOT offended Chaco: Yes I am , I feel offended… Yet another SDMB regular: But you’re feeling the WRONG feelings. For god’s sake listen to us, or better still, apologise, and get the right feelings! Chaco: But I feel offended… CHORUS OF SDMB Regulars: oh, grow up, get real, get a life, haven’t you something more important to talk about, etc… If the joke is at the expense of a particular racial group, and someone from that racial group is offended, you may say “I don’t care about your being offended” or “Most people from your group don’t find that offensive (if that is a factual statement)”. But to say “Oh well, your feelings don’t count” is to enter a collusion to insult, and I believe, to perpetuate racial slanders, by minimising their harmful effect. “Oh it’s just a joke, don’t take it seriously” That “just a joke” line was used very effectively on women for the first seven decades of the last century, but it don’t wash now. Dame Edna WAS offensive. She is not a saint, just someone in showbusiness. She can make mistakes, and I think she did, and she can be unfunny sometimes. He was offended. Is that so hard to live with? I suppose it’s less fun to disagree privately, when you can all join the kicking contest. Chaco has as much perception and intellignce as most other SDMB regulars who’ve posted here, and I trust his judgement. I love these boards, but by god there’s times when they offer people a chance to display a very nasty side of themselves. Fewer kicking contests please, and more fighting of ignorance. Grumpily, Redboss ---
**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/79 "2003-02-11T02:05:55Z")
Humphries. Okay, I was wrong R ---
**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035/80 "2003-02-11T02:12:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Ignorance and racism is a human vice or folly not the Spanish Language or the Help/Leaf Blower. This is where the joke gets lost. God, but you are a _special_ kind of idiot. **Chaco** I suggest you stop reading VF until you have graduated from the third grade. Fourth grade humor is obviously lost on you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dame-edna-can-lick-my-huevos/154035.md?page=5)