# Goatse on the cover of Time magazine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 21, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283 "2004-09-21T06:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Coffee\_Nerves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Coffee\_Nerves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Coffee_Nerves)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/1 "2004-09-21T06:26:46Z")
Take a look at [this cover](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/archive/covers/0,16641,1101040920,00.html) of the last issue of Time magazine… that is totally Goatse! (you have to rotate the picture.) How did this ever get past their editors? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Coffee\_Nerves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Coffee\_Nerves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Coffee_Nerves)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/2 "2004-09-21T06:28:22Z")
I would post a side-by-side comparison of the two, but I somehow think that would be frowned upon here. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/3 "2004-09-21T06:28:52Z")
What is goatse? ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/4 "2004-09-21T06:29:58Z")
Half of me says, “No way, it’s just coincidence. After all, how many ways are there to show two hands ripping the stripes of an American flag apart?” But the other half thinks that there are some sick mofos working at the TIME graphic design department. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Coffee\_Nerves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Coffee\_Nerves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Coffee_Nerves)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/5 "2004-09-21T06:30:49Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > What is goatse? Do a quick google search and you’ll find out… ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/6 "2004-09-21T06:31:08Z")
Look at the Time magazine cover. Now imagine that those two hands are grasping and holding open a human anus. Their own anus. That’s goatse. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/7 "2004-09-21T06:32:48Z")
I thought it was going to be this picture. > **[The Hands of God](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/gods-hands/)** > > Photograph shows God's hands in a cloud formation. (note: safe for work, non-gross) Hands of God indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/8 "2004-09-21T06:33:06Z")
Awright, now, before I go googling this Goatse thing, what the hell is it? Something tells me it’s not good, whatever that word means. So…you feel this cover is inappropriate somehow? I can assume it looks sexual somehow to you? No matter how I orient the image, I’d have to use a fair amount of imagination to get anyting worth being censored out of this. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/9 "2004-09-21T06:34:47Z")
Cripes, I got quintuple-bumped or something. And I _do not_ see somebody prying their bunghole open when I look at that image. I guess I just lack a fertile enough imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/10 "2004-09-21T06:35:05Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > What is goatse? [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) has an informative article on the Goatse phenomenon, but I don’t think I can link to the actual article, because then you would be one click away from non-work-safe material. But search that site for “goatse,” and you’ll find a fascinating all-text article, with links if you dare. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/11 "2004-09-21T06:36:57Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Cripes, I got quintuple-bumped or something. > > And I _do not_ see somebody prying their bunghole open when I look at that image. I guess I just lack a fertile enough imagination. Well, it’s not something anyone in their right mind really would think of, unless they’ve been previously exposed to Goatse, in which case the image is permanently burned into their retinas. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/12 "2004-09-21T08:44:12Z")
The hands are very different. For one, the hands on the Time cover are much more “clean cut”, so to speak, than those on the Goatse guy. Also, the thumbs on the Time cover are closer to the hand than in Goatse. Or did you mean that they’re just oriented similarly? Even that’s not quite the case - the Time cover is more symmetrical. One of the Goatse guy’s arms is at a slight angle. I suspect that if you’re going to show two hands tearing something apart from opposite sides, no matter what it is, it’ll look superficially similar to any other picture showing two hands tearing something apart from opposite sides. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/13 "2004-09-21T09:31:19Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > What is goatse? You’re better off not knowing. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/14 "2004-09-21T13:29:32Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > What is goatse? Don’t ask. Don’t Google it. Just walk away. You’ll be better off, trust me. Unless you happen to have lots of brain bleach around. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/15 "2004-09-21T13:44:51Z")
I like the text too “its outrageously easy to sneak in” There is no way goatse wasn’t a factor in that drawing. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/16 "2004-09-21T13:59:51Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Awright, now, before I go googling this Goatse thing, what the hell is it? Something tells me it’s not good, whatever that word means. > > So…you feel this cover is inappropriate somehow? I can assume it looks sexual somehow to you? No matter how I orient the image, I’d have to use a fair amount of imagination to get anyting worth being censored out of this. Remember the end of _Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark_? When Indy tells Marian not to look? Same thing here. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/17 "2004-09-21T14:05:01Z")
I think the letters column for that issue is going to be very interesting. I’ve never Googled goatse. And I never will. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/18 "2004-09-21T14:06:50Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’ve never Googled goatse. And I never will. Reading the Wikipedia article on that (and Tubgirl, etc.) isn’t traumatizing. Just don’t click their links. (The content of the article might trip a few work filters, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/19 "2004-09-21T15:00:43Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > Reading the Wikipedia article on that (and Tubgirl, etc.) isn’t traumatizing. Just don’t click their links. (The content of the article might trip a few work filters, though.) Why is it that whenever Goatse makes his way into the forums here, his ugly sister Tubgirl always has to pop her filthy head in? 😃 Happy ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283/20 "2004-09-21T15:15:03Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > I thought it was going to be this picture. > [http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/godhands.asp](http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/godhands.asp) Nah. [We’ve already covered that](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=273141&highlight=goatse). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goatse-on-the-cover-of-time-magazine/265283.md?page=2)