# I got an official warning because I may have insulted Forrest Gump - PC gone mad. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 4, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-official-warning-because-i-may-have-insulted-forrest-gump-pc-gone-mad/797910 "2017-10-04T02:14:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-official-warning-because-i-may-have-insulted-forrest-gump-pc-gone-mad/797910/21 "2017-10-04T03:44:13Z")
Countdown to thread closure in …5…4…3…2…1. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-official-warning-because-i-may-have-insulted-forrest-gump-pc-gone-mad/797910/22 "2017-10-04T03:45:54Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > 😕 😕 😕 Uh, cite? Since when have offensive slurs in general been “within bounds” on these boards for “offboard persons, fictional or real life”? > > Has it ever been okay on these boards to call, say, Obama or Jay-Z a “nigger”? Is it okay to refer to the governor of Puerto Rico as a “spic”? Can you call Jared Kushner or Woody Allen a “kike”? As far as I know, none of those persons are present on these boards. But I think if you used that kind of language to refer to them, you’d get a warning. > > “Retard” is generally considered a milder slur than “nigger” or “spic” or “kike” or their ilk, but it’s still definitely in the Do Not Use category as far as I’m aware. And if it’s in the Do Not Use category according to board regulations, then it can’t be applied to **anybody** , present, offboard, real-life or fictional. > > I think you and the OP are mixing up the concepts of a “slur” and an “insult”. We know that it’s okay to describe a public figure as a “birdbrained cumdribble”, for example, even where we’re not allowed to apply such a term directly to a fellow poster (except in the Pit). But that doesn’t mean that **every** insulting term is equally permissible in such a situation. The insults that are categorized as offensive slurs are not supposed to be used for **anybody** , whether they’re reading the post or not. I think it may be you who is confusing those terms. The ones you’re using as examples are in fact considered hate speech on this board and would be moderated even if used against an offboard character, or in the Pit against another poster, or in some cases even in general discussion. Slur just means a word that is intended to insult or harm the reputation of the target. For example it is permissible to call an off-board person a cunt despite that term rising somewhere above insult and below hate speech. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-official-warning-because-i-may-have-insulted-forrest-gump-pc-gone-mad/797910/23 "2017-10-04T03:54:14Z")
I’d like to know the story of the OP’s personal hatred of a fictional character that is so strong that it’s considered a matter of personal importance to be able to describe the character as a retard. Did Shagnasty get a papercut from the Forrest Gump novel or something? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-official-warning-because-i-may-have-insulted-forrest-gump-pc-gone-mad/797910/24 "2017-10-04T03:59:47Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > I think it may be you who is confusing those terms. The ones you’re using as examples are in fact considered hate speech on this board and would be moderated even if used against an offboard character, or in the Pit against another poster, or in some cases even in general discussion. > > Slur just means a word that is intended to insult or harm the reputation of the target. Well, “slur” is very often used to refer to the terms you’re calling “hate speech”: for example, a word like “nigger” is often called an “ethnic slur”. So no, I don’t think “slur” necessarily signifies a term less offensive than “hate speech”. Still, in the interests of clarity I’m happy to use the descriptor “hate speech” instead of “slur”. And ISTM that the term “retard” is considered by The Powers That Be around here to fall into that category, although the suffix “-tard” does not (though I wouldn’t mind if it did). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-official-warning-because-i-may-have-insulted-forrest-gump-pc-gone-mad/797910/25 "2017-10-04T04:02:06Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Eh…I think I’m with **Shagnasty** on this one. I’m inclined to say calling a fictional character _anything_ really shouldn’t be warnable unless it is part of an attempt to troll the board. I don’t think you’ve thought this through. Are you seriously suggesting that it’s okay to describe a scene in a movie or a book by saying: “Then the nigger came in and shot the spic.” ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-official-warning-because-i-may-have-insulted-forrest-gump-pc-gone-mad/797910/26 "2017-10-04T04:04:36Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Well, “slur” is very often used to refer to the terms you’re calling “hate speech”: for example, a word like “nigger” is often called an “ethnic slur”. So no, I don’t think “slur” necessarily signifies a term less offensive than “hate speech”. > > Still, in the interests of clarity I’m happy to use the descriptor “hate speech” instead of “slur”. And ISTM that the term “retard” is considered by The Powers That Be around here to fall into that category, although the suffix “-tard” does not (though I wouldn’t mind if it did). I said “offensive slur” not “ethnic slur”, “racial slur”, “religious slur” etc. My post wasn’t ambiguous - I said any offensive slur other than hate speech has always been permissible to use toward offboard people. Up until this point at least TPTB haven’t categorized this particular slur as hate speech, thus my post. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-official-warning-because-i-may-have-insulted-forrest-gump-pc-gone-mad/797910/27 "2017-10-04T04:06:05Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Yes in the case of Huckleberry Finn. No for most other stories. It is all about context. The whole point of Forrest Gump was that he was mentally disabled (retarded) but still managed to stumble across just about everything. It is hardly unfair to call him retarded because that is most of the point of the whole story. It doesn’t mean that I would call anyone else that. We are talking about a fictional character here. It is like getting a warning for criticizing Bugs Bunny. There is no logic in what you are saying. Your use of the term was not reported speech. _You_ are using a derogatory term to describe someone. Whether the person _has_ the qualities in question is irrelevant; whether the person is fictional is irrelevant. If you want to describe a person as having those qualities, use a non-derogatory term. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-official-warning-because-i-may-have-insulted-forrest-gump-pc-gone-mad/797910/28 "2017-10-04T04:11:24Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Later… > > I am sorry Chronos and I will take the warning if needed but I still don’t see the justification based on forum rules. I have been here over 17 years and never received a warning because I obey the rules. I can’t see how discussing a fictional character would justify a warning. > > Can you point me to which specific rule I broke? Forrest Gump is one of my favorite movies that I have seen dozens of times. The whole point of the movie is viewing American history through an idiot’s life. It won an Academy Award for it. I can’t see how changing the terminology in a subtle way makes anything different. That is just PC culture gone bad. It doesn’t change the fact that Forrest had a very serious mental deficiency no matter what you call it but still turned out to be a great person. I take it as an inspirational story more than anything. > > I never insulted any real person so please explain the reasoning. Complaints about moderation belong in ATMB. Start a new thread there if you want to discuss your warning. From the forum descriptions: > [@](#): > > About This Message Board > For all questions, comments, and **complaints** about the SDMB. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-an-official-warning-because-i-may-have-insulted-forrest-gump-pc-gone-mad/797910.md?page=1)