I think IN CONTEXT (a guy who thinks he’s an elf living at the north pole with Santa) that was meant to refer to toys that have cotton stuffing in their head. But stepping back a bit, if we think about why the writers who grew up in American culture thought that would be the funniest line in that situation probably does have to do with “cotton” used as a prefix in other contexts, like “cotton-picking”.
It’s the sort of thing where the deep origins of the phrase have to do with slavery but it has been filtered through so many lenses that a direct connection isn’t obvious.
I think my takeaway would be, it’s a conversation worth having without necessarily casting blame on anyone.
So of course the usual suspects will paint me as wanting to burn all copies of the movie Elf and to cancel Will Ferrell.
Eta: and I see I’ve been ninja’d by exactly the sort of comment I predicted
I think this is a very neat way of phrasing what I was trying to expand on, actually. Cotton as the prefix in Cotton Headed is inherently “funny” to an American because of the long history of Cotton being used as a prefix. That long history began with slavery, there’s no denying that.
Since the phrase you’re quoting comes from an American movie, I think we can have a conversation about how that phrase ended up there. Noone is saying we need to get out the pitchforks to chase you out of town for quoting the movie.
The fact that it originated as a neutral term for such people is exactly why it shouldn’t be used as an insult: because the very nature of the insult is in the comparison. The fact that it did get often used as an insult is why it can no longer be used as a neutral term.
If you post on an internationally public board a term that’s offensive anywhere that board is being read, then while you may have done so in entirely unintentional and unblameable ignorance, if somebody who does know about the offense points it out to you I don’t think that a response amounting to (not a direct quote) ‘I don’t care if somebody’s insulted as long as they’re not from around here’ is a really good look.
How about ‘willfully ignorant fool’? ‘Currently exhibiting the brainpower of a two day old chipmunk’? ‘May actually be using only 10% of their brain cells’? Or you could delve into Shakespeare: “Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows.” “Your brain is as dry as the remainder biscuit after voyage.”
Be creative! Standard insults are boring. They require no more brain than I have in my elbows.
Ideally, to the person insulted. Not to random bystanders.
Since Shakespeare used a whole lot of different and creative language instead of just repeating “idiot” every time the issue came up, I suspect he’d have disagreed with you.
I’ve looked up the 55 (or so) insults used by Shakespeare. Guess which is most commonly known?
Allow me then to paraphrase Christopher Hitchens:
‘There is nothing you can do about people who choose to find offense in something you said or did if they are willing to take the trouble to stand on their toilet to peer into your bedroom window.’
If you’ve not watched the video I shared, you really should hear his anecdote about the first published English dictionary.
I don’t find it pointless; I find it fascinating that, when trying to come up with an insult that’s as non-insulting as possible because it was said by a character who things he’s an elf and doesn’t have a mean bone in his body - the American writers of the movie Elf came up with an insult that has its roots in slavery.
That doesn’t mean Elf is an evil movie that needs to be censored. I actually rather like it. It doesn’t mean that Will Ferrell is a horrible person. I actually rather like him.
I still think it’s an interesting, introspective conversation to have.
I am aware that not everyone likes to be introspective, though; some people are afraid of what they’ll find if they look too deep inside.
I agree with the OP, intellectual curiosity brings us here and we love to prove each other wrong with cites whenever we can. You can do that with truth and it doesn’t require ideology.