# Tiger Man.... too stupid to be true? Please? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 7, 2001, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226 "2001-08-07T03:59:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/81 "2001-08-15T01:06:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\* > > That’s a bit broader than my feelings. In this case, we don’t even know him, he doesn’t know us, therefore no one could get hurt here. It would be different if, say, we were making fun of a coworker or something. \*\* I disagree. Threads like this reinforce the perception that it is OK to ridicule those we find different. Even if you personally would never take it further than a post to a message board that the tiger man would never read (though who’s to say he isn’t amongst us?), you encourage others to do so by fostering an “us against them” attitude. [/quote] \*\* Tiger Man modified his own body through personal choices. People have every right to laugh at him, think he is silly, and perhaps even think there’s something wrong with him. If people snicker at him it is because he brought it on himself. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/82 "2001-08-15T01:39:35Z")
People have every right to be assholes. And people are responsible for their own actions. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/83 "2001-08-15T01:45:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Heloise \* > \*\*So, are you saying that all of your neighbors that you haven’t yet met can make fun of the way you look and dress, as long as they do it behind your back? \*\* Sure. I, personally, don’t care if people laugh. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/84 "2001-08-15T09:07:37Z")
**Marc** - to some degree we _all_ are responsible for the things that make us different. Glasses? You could wear contacts. Fat? You could lose weight. Geeky? Take up sports! At what point in this continuum does the **MGibson** scale identify that it is OK to make fun of them, taunt them and teach others that it is right to despise them? Self-created freakdom doesn’t absolve the rest of us from treating them as a fellow human being. pan ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/85 "2001-08-15T13:56:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Heloise \* > > \*\*So, are you saying that all of your neighbors that you haven’t yet met can make fun of the way you look and dress, as long as they do it behind your back? \*\* > > Sure. I, personally, don’t care if people laugh. \*\* But you cry when they leave notes on your door? Where do you draw the line? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/86 "2001-08-15T14:10:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Montfort \* > \*\* > > Sure. I, personally, don’t care if people laugh. \*\* But you cry when they leave notes on your door? Where do you draw the line? \*\* [/QUOTE] Gee, let’s see. When my neighbors tell me I don’t belong in my own neighborhood? Why do you think the two are similar? I see no similarity at all. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/87 "2001-08-15T14:11:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\* > > At what point in this continuum does the **MGibson** scale identify that it is OK to make fun of them, taunt them and teach others that it is right to despise them? > > Self-created freakdom doesn’t absolve the rest of us from treating them as a fellow human being. > > pan \*\* I wouldn’t taunt or tease Tiger Man if I were to see him on the street or at the movies. But I do think it is ok to laugh at someone who goes out of their way to look ridiculous. I wouldn’t go out for a beer with the guy, if I were hiring employees he probably wouldn’t be high on my list, and I can have the opinion that he’s a rather silly man who might have some emotional issues. And don’t try telling me that looks don’t matter. No man who goes through that much surgery does it because it doesn’t matter. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/88 "2001-08-15T17:27:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by beegirl13 \* > \*\*Believe it or not, there are more freaks like this out there. :eek: I saw a story on a cheesy TV show called Maximum Exposure last night where a guy did something similar. Only he is a leopard man. He did the whole tatoo and tooth filing thing, but no whiskers as far as I know. He lives in the woods wearing almost nothing and cooks over a fire. \*\* Yeah, after all, if you want to be like a leopard, you really should live in the woods and cook over a fire. Just when did leopards start cooking over fires? (Reminds me of a rant from MASH – “…the army forces us to live like dogs in tents…” to which Pierce replied, “Dogs live in tents?”) I love freaks. I love the freaks who elected to be freaks in the first place. You have to love people who are taking up all the space at the bottom of the bell curve, leaving room for everyone near the middle, or if you’re lucky, the top. Oh, he’s just trying to be different like everybody else. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2001, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/89 "2001-08-15T17:31:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > \*\ ***Marc** - to some degree we _all_ are responsible for the things that make us different. Glasses? You could wear contacts. Fat? You could lose weight. Geeky? Take up sports! At what point in this continuum does the **MGibson** scale identify that it is OK to make fun of them, taunt them and teach others that it is right to despise them? > > Self-created freakdom doesn’t absolve the rest of us from treating them as a fellow human being. > > pan \*\* Frig the self inflicted freaks. You elected to be a freak, then deal with the crap. Ooh, let me see here, Ol’ Tiger Boy is sensitive. Don’t cry, Tiger Boy, it’s not friggin’ Tigerly. Grow a pair of Tiger Balls and get over it. ---
**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:** [August 16, 2001, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/90 "2001-08-16T04:52:10Z")
Wait, so if it is wrong to mock and point fingers at Tiger Man, would it also be wrong to mock and point fingers at, say, George Bush? What if criticizing his intelligence and policies gives others the impression that criticizing people is OK? No, we have the right to criticize whoever the hell we want. Tiger Man is an idiot. George Bush is an idiot. If it hurts their feelings that I think they are idiots then I guess their feelings get hurt. Now, I don’t believe that one should be rude. If I met Tiger Man or George Bush at a party I wouldn’t laugh and point. But I have no obligation to pretend that I have no opinion about their intelligence and personal choices simply because that might hurt their iddy biddy feelings. ---
**Author:** ![Hibbins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ce73a5/32.png) [@Hibbins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hibbins)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/91 "2001-08-16T18:29:09Z")
> [@](#): > > No, we have the right to criticize whoever the hell we want. Duh! Nobody said you didn’t. It isn’t nice to get together in a group solely for the purpose of criticizing and deriding someone (whether you say it to their face or not). It’s not about hurt feelings. It’s about not giving the impression that it is all right to get together in a group and gang up on someone who is different. ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/92 "2001-08-16T23:50:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Gee, let’s see. When my neighbors tell me I don’t belong in my own neighborhood? Why do you think the two are similar? I see no similarity at all. So where do you think the Tiger Man belongs? It seems to me that you have a problem with him even existing. > [@](#): > > I wouldn’t taunt or tease Tiger Man if I were to see him on the street or at the movies. But I do think it is ok to laugh at someone who goes out of their way to look ridiculous. I wouldn’t go out for a beer with the guy, if I were hiring employees he probably wouldn’t be high on my list, and I can have the opinion that he’s a rather silly man who might have some emotional issues. And don’t try telling me that looks don’t matter. No man who goes through that much surgery does it because it doesn’t matter. Looks don’t matter to me. They are apparently very important to you. Because otherwise you would have to treat Tiger man like everybody else. Wouldn’t it be horrible if you were unable to make snap judgements on people based on what they look like? > [@](#): > > No, we have the right to criticize whoever the hell we want. And we have the right to criticize you. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/93 "2001-08-17T00:11:54Z")
Uhm, haven’t we [had this debate before](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=74558) and the moderators have made it quite clear that: > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by UncleBeer_ > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by AETBOND417_ > > **This is supposed to be a community of smarter than average people. I thought making fun of people for the way they look was, well, stupid.** > > \*\*Yup. I’m locking this thread. While the OP states he had no intent of making fun of people for whatever physical characteristics they may have, we seem quickly headed down that path. Frankly, I find that repulsive. \*\* * * * Jeg elsker dig, Thomas [sub][sup]Join [**Team Straight Dope**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=70348) in the [**fight against cancer**](http://www.ud.com/home.htm)![/sup][/sub] ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/94 "2001-08-17T08:15:07Z")
That’s right **Hibbins**. Don’t forget that this thread exists _solely_ to encourage people to come in and point and laugh at the freak. It isn’t a passing mention in a general conversation. It isn’t you reading the paper, seeing something stupid W has said and laughing at it with your mates. It’s saying “let’s all get together for the sole purpose of saying how we don’t approve of anyone setting themselves up to be different”. So that’s why I’m with **Unclebeer** from that linked thread. It’s repulsive. pan ---
**Author:** ![Pnuk\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Pnuk\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pnuk_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/95 "2001-08-17T10:14:25Z")
The OP was a picture of a weird bloke who had plastic surgery to look like a Tiger. The OP was shocked and thought that other Dopers might want to see this… Some people laughed, some people retched, many people ridiculed. Some people went all self-righteous and started slating these people. ok… two words… **Harmless Fun**. It’s one the the oldest forms of humour known to man. Caveman 1: Ug! [lit. Look, Og is fat. Ha Ha!] Caveman 2: Ug! [lit. Oh yes. Ha Ha!] We laugh at freaks, it may be un-PC but that’s the way it goes. I find them funny, this may be ‘wrong’ but it’s the pit. I’m sure it’s the least of Tiger Man’s worries. ---
**Author:** ![kabbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e99b99/32.png) [@kabbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kabbes)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/96 "2001-08-17T10:21:35Z")
> [@](#): > > We laugh at freaks, it may be un-PC but that’s the way it goes. Do you see, **Opal**? This is the attitude you foster by posting your OP. You may never interact negatively with a “freak” in your life. But you have fed **Pnuk** ’s belief that it is OK to do so. pan ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/97 "2001-08-17T12:47:25Z")
Hmmm… Maybe I should jump on this bandwagon. I could be … **NaugaMan**! I would have my body surgicalkly altered to resemble a Nauga – Hufe Eyes, Filed Teeth, Bloated Belly. The easiest part would be the pelt. I’m sure I could find plenty of NaugaHyde somewhere. (My apologies to those who didn’t grow up in the 60s, or who aren’t obsessed with old ads.) ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/98 "2001-08-17T13:32:55Z")
You worked way too hard for that one, **CalMeacham**. Seeing as Tiger Man’s appearance is all about choice, it seems fair game to chuckle under my sleeve at him if I thought his appearance represented foolish choices. Just as I might when I see someone wearing a Motley Crue or Poison t-shirt. It is not equivalent to making fun of fat or naturally-homely people. But I certainly wouldn’t sneer at him to his face; my mama raised me better than that. I wonder how he shaves without damaging his whiskers? D’you think he got lip electrolysis before he had them implanted? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/99 "2001-08-17T16:57:57Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Sterra \* \*\* > [@](#): > > So where do you think the Tiger Man belongs? It seems to me that you have a problem with him even existing. \*\* Hmm… boy don’t YOU jump to conclusions! He belongs wherever he wants to belong. I don’t have a problem with him existing–I’m glad he does! He makes the world less boring. I just think he looks funny. I have friends who I think look funny. I have friends I think are physically ugly. I have friends who wear clothes I find to be lame. I still like them, I still get along with them, etc. I also know that a LOT of people think that _I_ look funny. I’ve had strangers follow me through the grocery store trying to taunt me, I’ve had people stop their cars on the street to shout things at me… and none of that bothers me. That’s _fact_ right there. Now if the owners of the grocery store had told me I had to leave, that would be different. Do you understand yet? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2001, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226/100 "2001-08-17T17:06:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kabbes \* > **It’s saying “let’s all get together for the sole purpose of saying how we don’t approve of anyone setting themselves up to be different”.** No, it isn’t. I totally approve of people “setting themselves up to be different” and if this guy’s tiger thing had been done better, I’d probably think it was fairly cool. Oh, and if he didn’t have plans of permanently GRAFTING TIGER PELTS TO HIS SKIN which I don’t find cool at all. But anyway, being different is A-OK in my book. Heck I’m one of the ones who IS different. The OP was actually my way of saying "look at this, can you believe it? Is it true? and then also a tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement that the main thing the thread would be would be people making fun of him. I know how the board goes. And yes I find it funny. And no, I don’t think it’s wrong to think it’s funny, or to share the laugh with my friends. I also don’t think that finding something funny is the equivelant of thinking it shouldn’t exist, or not approving of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiger-man-too-stupid-to-be-true-please/75226.md?page=6)