# Life imitates art: Kevin Smith argues with internet messageboard over Clerks 2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114 "2006-07-26T17:20:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/1 "2006-07-26T17:20:02Z")
[On the rotten tomatoes board](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showthread.php?t=497797). Honestly, I think he handles it pretty well. I’d say that Jay and Silent Bob would go hunt him down if it weren’t for the fact that he IS Silent Bob. Enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/2 "2006-07-26T17:26:21Z")
> [@ThatKevinSmith](#): > > “In line with expectations.” “Respectable.” “Good.” “Passable.” “Lukewarm.” Not exactly enthusiastic buzzwords - more like the way any woman who’s ever been goodly enough to sleep with me has reviewed my cocksmanship. Haw haw haw. That’s some good threadsmanship. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/3 "2006-07-26T17:56:17Z")
It’s more like life imitating life that also was imitated by art. Kevin Smith has done thread wars before. Magnolia, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/4 "2006-07-26T18:12:04Z")
Yeah yeah yeah. But my thread title was long enough as it is. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/5 "2006-07-26T19:18:38Z")
That’s funny stuff. I love how this other twit just kept arguing about the gross and success of his own frickin’ movie. ---
**Author:** ![BluePitbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@BluePitbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BluePitbull)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/6 "2006-07-26T19:20:07Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] It’s more like life imitating life that also was imitated by art. Kevin Smith has done thread wars before. Magnolia, anyone? [/QUOTE] I take it that he don’t take criticism very well ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/7 "2006-07-26T19:21:58Z")
Getting into a spat with Joel Siegel is one thing (the guy was unprofessional and has millions of viewers). But this? Hardly seems the trouble… ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/8 "2006-07-26T19:29:47Z")
[QUOTE=BluePitbull] I take it that he don’t take criticism very well [/QUOTE] No, he’s just willing to personally defend himself online. In the Magnolia incident, he wrote a negative review of the movie, then got into a flame war with Paul Thomas Anderson supporters. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/9 "2006-07-26T19:48:56Z")
[QUOTE=BluePitbull] I take it that he don’t take criticism very well [/QUOTE] That wasn’t criticism. That was a self-important twit with minimal reading comprehension skills, pretending to know far more about the business than he really does, trying to get a rise out of Mr. Smith and failing. Of course, anyone who disagrees with said SIT is, by definition, a Smith apologist (or cocksucker - take your pick). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/10 "2006-07-26T19:54:00Z")
Fuck Jay and Silent Bob. Fuck them up their stupid asses. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/11 "2006-07-26T20:00:54Z")
[QUOTE=BluePitbull] I take it that he don’t take criticism very well [/QUOTE] Smith apparently [harbored a grudge against writer Peter David](http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/rage/97590426713192.htm) for quite some time merely because PAD summarized _Mallrats_ as “It’s a movie I would’ve enjoyed if I were still in college.” I think calling Smith “thin-skinned” isn’t too far off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![MojoBox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbe5ce/32.png) [@MojoBox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MojoBox)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/12 "2006-07-26T20:07:30Z")
I’ve disliked Kevin Smith ever since he appologized to the “Gay community” for things said by Jay in “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”. Here’s the deal, Fiction writers (scripts/books/etc) are not responsible for what their characters do. If they were, we’d never have a good villian in a story ever again. Any good author will talk about the feeling of characters being beyond their control and taking a life of their own. He should have told them to take it up with Jay. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/13 "2006-07-26T20:08:47Z")
[Scott Foundas](http://www.laweekly.com/film+tv/film/dear-kevin/14022/) of the _LA Weekly_ was asked to leave a _C2_ screening because of a past negative review of a Smith film. And [here’s more](http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/mmx-0607160015jul16,0,6135852.story?coll=mmx-movies_heds) about how sensitive can get to some critics’ comments. ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/14 "2006-07-26T20:32:02Z")
Rotten Tomatoes forums are down for maintenance? Did Kevin Smith’s post end up Farking (or Slash-Dotting, or whatever) them? thwartme ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/15 "2006-07-26T20:50:10Z")
Yeah, all in all it’s probably not worth the effort getting into arguments with every SIT on the internet. By the same token, it’s kinda cool that he shows up and defends himself rather than just ignore everything. One guy in that thread mentioned that you don’t see Spielberg or “big” starts getting into flame wars on the internet because “they have class”. But you’ve got to admit, it would be pretty interesting if they did! And of course I think the guy (KS) writes pretty well and is able to lay out a fairly cogent argument even if you don’t buy it (with some self-deprecating humor thrown in for good measure). And he even cites his sources! I think he’d make a pretty decent Doper. Somebody should show him the secret handshake. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/16 "2006-07-26T20:51:19Z")
[QUOTE=thwartme] Rotten Tomatoes forums are down for maintenance? Did Kevin Smith’s post end up Farking (or Slash-Dotting, or whatever) them? thwartme [/QUOTE] It’s been up and down all day after that thread was linked to on some big sites. Hopefully it won’t disappear altogether. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/17 "2006-07-26T21:08:11Z")
Maybe if we call him out he’ll show up. Hey Kevin Smith! Yeah, you! You should be sued for the crap movies you insist on making! You’re dialog sucks llama balls! You’re both French _and_ smell like elderberries! ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/18 "2006-07-26T21:09:35Z")
[QUOTE=Jayrot] And of course I think the guy (KS) writes pretty well and is able to lay out a fairly cogent argument even if you don’t buy it (with some self-deprecating humor thrown in for good measure). And he even cites his sources! I think he’d make a pretty decent Doper. Somebody should show him the secret handshake. [/QUOTE] I’d much rather listen to KS talk (or read his non-script writing) then watch his movies, generally. “An Evening With Kevin Smith” is, I think, his best stuff. Caught him live the second time he came to Toronto. Four solid hours of funny, interesting and deeply personal Q&A with the packed crowd. Thanks, **Jayrot**. I’ll check again later. thwartme ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/19 "2006-07-26T21:51:02Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] It’s more like life imitating life that also was imitated by art. Kevin Smith has done thread wars before. Magnolia, anyone? [/QUOTE] What’s the reference here? Was he pro- or anti-Magnolia? -FrL- (Personally, I liked that movie…) ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114/20 "2006-07-26T21:53:59Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] What’s the reference here? Was he pro- or anti-Magnolia? -FrL- (Personally, I liked that movie…) [/QUOTE] Found this: [http://home.case.edu/~bcl3/](http://home.case.edu/~bcl3/) He’s being a bit disingenuous–he didn’t just say he didn’t like the movie, he called his interlocutor “daffy” and said he illustrates the principle “fucking people baffle me.” Anyway, that’s a bit of a hijack, sorry. -FrL- [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-imitates-art-kevin-smith-argues-with-internet-messageboard-over-clerks-2/366114.md?page=2)