I’m on your side on this one, 'Sprix. There’s a thin line between satire and tacit endorsement sometimes.
Seems to me that one of Cecil’s strengths is his willingness to “disparage” everyone. No one is safe. I’ve caught myself a few times over the years with the "Hey, wait a minute – " reaction, only to step back a realize that if I can laugh when he’s poking at someone else, I can laugh when I’m part of the target group too. Or not laugh, if the joke isn’t funny. (Yes, that’s right. I’m a paragon of reason and magnanimity.)
You seem like a nice person, 'prix, so I don’t wanna sound like I’m dissing you. It just seems to me like you might wanna chill a little. This isn’t some entrenched bigot – it’s Cecil. He makes fun of everybody. If he gives you a pass, then I’m going to have to ask for a pass for inbred rednecks such as myself. Suddenly everybody wants a pass. Then where will we be?
Of course, if the joke ain’t funny…
Indeed, I didn’t think it was funny, and, in addition, I didn’t think it was warranted - I found it forced, which isn’t like Cec. I also know he’s not a bigot, nor did I ever call him such. And I’m not even asking for a “pass” - I just am calling him on what I consider to be an inappropriate, unfunny remark, and he can take it or leave it as he sees fit.
Esprix
<gasp>
<shakes head sadly and walks away>
as much as I disagree with a certain recently banned member, I gotta say, Esprix and Eve, take a chill. Humor is humor, and hopefully everyone will be equally made fun of (not offended, there’s a difference).
Yes, he made a joke at the LGBiTrTr’s expense. It’s still a well-crafted joke. Unneccesary? Sure, but all jokes really are. Uncalled for? Maybe, but what is called for? Hurtful? Only if you have a very thin skin.
I for one thought it was funny. If you want to take offense, do it. But remember, you are the active party in that. I doubt Cecil wrote the joke to piss y’all (and myself included) off.
jb
“Well-crafted?” Hardly - rather purile and forced, if you ask me. But humor is in the eye of the beholder - YMMV.
I am fully aware that it was not Cecil’s intent to offend, and indeed I am not offended; I just thought it was inappropriate and unfunny.
Esprix
Actually, I was referring back to this column:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000908.html
Which was inaccurate, mean-spirited and revealed that in some (dare I say, many?) cases, our Fearless Leader doesn’t know shit from Shinola. Or much care which is shit and which is Shinola, as long as he can get off a few wiseass remarks.
Well, at least he had some fairly reliable statistics available. Oy.
I suppose we can count on Cecil for being a stomper of ignorance, but not of sensitivity. C’est la vie.
Esprix
Well, I dunno. I asked a good lady friend of mine who just so happens to have once been a male to read the the offending article, and she laughed. Happened to be her first encounter with Cecil. She also commented “Well, sure, it’s pretty icky surgery, and sure, there’s a certain convenience to being a pointer rather than a setter, but I wouldn’t go back to being a boy just to be able to write my name in the snow.” As for the accuracy of the non-waggish comment portion of the column, she didn’t see any gross inaccuracies, though she admitted she’s neither a doctor nor a researcher – just a woman who happened to be very inconveniently born with outdoor plumbing. Thank god for modern medicine, she said.
It seems to me that of all the many types of people there are in the world, at least two of them are people who look for a chance to laugh and people who look for a chance to be offended. Personally, I enjoy life more when I laugh – especially at myself.
But, as Esprix said, C’est la vie.
Bingo!! That was exactly what I wanted to say but couldn’t come up with it in my earlier post.
I think the only reason you’re upset with this comment is because it hits close to home. If Cecil had been insensitive to some other group, I doubt you’d be too upset about it.
I suppose there’s a good reason for that- You took it personally.
Had, or if, Cecil only went after homosexuals, or was only insenstive to select group of people, I would be much more willing to be critical of him.
But, Cec is inconsiderate of everyone, so it’s hard to say that one group alone is being attacked.
Say, Eve? Was this column edited at some point after it’s original posting?
Look - I read the column twice now, and am having a hard time finding the “mean-spirited” or “inaccurate” remarks in there. I’m not trying to pick a fight with you, especially on so important a subject, but I’m curious as to what in particular bothered you about the column you linked.
Una
A question about Queens elicited a joke about queens…
I don’t see the inappropriateness or forcedness of it all.
Either way, complaining on the Straight DOpe boards about forces crass humor is ridiculous those are Uncle Cecil’s Middle Names), like complaing that some foreign website isn’t in English. That’s what it’s there for, Jack, and taking offence, or being DISSAPOINTED, and HAVING to tell everybody, really is grossly egocentric.
Anyway,
Exion
Oh, yes - I’m sure everyone on this board who’s known me for almost a year now can attest that it’s all about me. :rolleyes:
Esprix
Eh. I tend to give Cecil the benefit of the doubt in cases like this. To paraphrase Ed Zotti:
“Instead of thinking ‘The old crock is really losing it,’ why not say ‘He’s obviously under a lot of stress. I think I’ll mail him fifty bucks.’”
Check’s in the post, Cece. The pig’s knuckles, kraut, and Leinenkugel are on ol’ Ukulele Ike today!
Eve, I read that article, too. I would be interested if you would explain what you thought was hateful and mean-spirited.
In this thread Joe_Cool wrote:
I didn’t want to hijack the discussion in the other thread and figured a response was more appropriate here. (And as I said over there, there is more than a bit of a difference between teaching children tolerance for gays and lesbians and Cecil’s purile attempt at humor.)
As I said in this thread, I’ve rolled my eyes at some of Cecil’s poor jokes in the past (again restating that I haven’t read every single one of his columns), but (a) of course I found it more offensive as I’m part of the group he’s backhandedly jibing; and (b) none of his humor has borderlined offensive (at least to me) before. I don’t feel my comments were as knee-jerk as you feel they were.
Esprix
Esprix said:
So were you or were you not offended? And could you please explain it to me (like I’m a heterosexual six-year-old) why it was offensive?
When I said:
I was responding to Joe_Cool’s statement that I found it “more unfunny” than some of his other off-color jokes. I should more accurately have said, “I would find* it more offensive,” because I’m part of that group.
It wasn’t, at least not to me, and I’m sorry I didn’t make that clearer. I still found it to be unfunny, inappropriate, and unnecessary.
Esprix
Okay, letme get my 2 cents in here. I thought Cecil’s comment was a slightly funny way of including just another meaning of the word “queen”. Many of us did not immediately grasp the context of the statement right away, and subtlety as well as brevety are hallmarks of intelligent discourse.A number of gays are clearly identifiable by their manner of speech, and I don’t believe they are ashamed of it.
Yeah, but that manner of speech is not a lisp. 