I understand that SkipMagic saw them as parodies to the toothbrushing thread:
and it is not unlikely that their respective authors started them as such. Still, I don’t see how they are different from pretty much any other list threads in CS. “Songs that make you …” and “Movies where …” are in large part the bread and butter of CS.
Most respondents were taking them at face value and the OPs were not hiding in a corner to gotcha-ya them. They would have passed for regular threads if there hadn’t been a similar one just hours before and a finger pointing pitting at the original thread that didn’t get locked:
Even with the accusation on the OP in the cat thread, the hijack was minimal and everybody had made out already.
So, was it really necessary to close threads indistinguishable from other CS threads and where all participants were giving it their honest best just because maybe the OP meant them as a joke?
Good, you’ve answered your own question. Just because other people post to threads that aren’t allowed doesn’t mean we’re going to reward the OP by letting the threads stay open. Cafe Society has no need to be littered with joke threads each time a parody of a particular thread comes into fashion, and no one should be surprised when his joke thread is closed as a result.
I understand what you are saying and mostly I want to agree with you, but I just wonder about all the people who answered to those threads. It seems that to them the topic was a valid one that merited discussion. It’s gotta suck a little to have answered to a thread and be looking forward to more responses to it only to see it closed.
Is there a way to punish the OP that doesn’t hurt the people who found the topic interesting on its own merit (and not as a parody of something else).
A similar situation arises when a sock starts a meaningful thread and then it gets locked when the sock is uncovered. Innocent posters are left hanging.
Fair enough. All I am saying is that I would be somewhat miffed if I had replied to those without knowing they were parodies only to see them locked later. (not that I participate much in listing threads)
I honestly don’t think the “taking a dump” thread was a parody, unless the OP has admitted something to you behind the scenes. It seems more like a thread spinoff, where someone is inspired by a previous thread and starts their own. For example, “Celebrities who are complete bastards” followed an earlier thread about celebrities who are nice.
That’s another different and perfectly valid issue that I didn’t mean to address. Half the threads in CS follow some very basic and common templates. There is a “best Beatle’s song” thread. Would a “best Marillion song” thread be considered a parody?
It’s unfortunate that the ‘Movies where someone takes a dump’ was started as a parody thread. It’s actually an interesting question, not so much listing each movie in which the act of defecation or urination occurs, but talking about when such scenes became acceptable in American movies. (First piss I can recall is Jane Fonda’s in Fun With Dick and Jane, 1971.)
I can see why the thread had to be closed though. It and the cat one were clearly started as a joke, which had already outworn its welcome after the first post, nay after the title.
As noted by Arnold, those are reasons for being pissed at the OP, but what does that have to do with a thread being locked? I can understand you being pissed if a thread is disappeared (which usually happens with thread started by socks, when they’re banned) but because a thread is locked?
I mean, seriously. Get a grip.
OK, the questions raised by the OP have been answered, so this thread is closed.