Meta: Tuckerizations and Character Names

Tom Russell milos_parker at yahoo.com
Tue Oct 31 13:06:02 PST 2006


Martin,

You do bring up some valid points, and I certainly understand your
argument.  The question of name-use is one that always makes for an
interesting discussion, but I don't really have anything to say in
response that I haven't said before.  But there was this point raised--

> This is actually part of a bigger issue: a lot of people think it makes
> them a big man to hide behind an e-mail address and/or a nick name and
> make fun of actors, directors, models, Paris Hilton, even people on
> other newsgroups and revel in the fact that nobody is getting hurt and
> that they are just blowing off steam.  A lot of people make fun of
> Liefeld or Bendis in LNH stories and I don't think mean spirited
> parodies are funny.  Either it is wrong or it isn't: it doesn't matter
> if the person who is being insulted reads it or not; it just isn't
> funny.

I think you have a very good point there, which is why I quoted it in
full.  I am equally against mean-spirited parodies.  But to zero-in...

>  A lot of people make fun of
> Liefeld or Bendis in LNH stories and I don't think mean spirited
> parodies are funny.  Either it is wrong or it isn't: it doesn't matter
> if the person who is being insulted reads it or not; it just isn't
> funny.

Mean-spiritedness for its own sake isn't funny, but sometimes comedy
can be funny if it has a little bite.  Some people parody things they
have respect and love for; some parody things they find atrocious.
It's not a matter of right or wrong, because generally, there's no harm
in making fun of national or public figures.  Where I'd draw the line
is with friends or members of my own community.

Whether it is funny or not, the difference is that we're a community.
For lack of a better word, we're "friends".  Some friends don't really
hang out with everybody, and some friends you kinda wonder why they're
your friends, but we're friends.  And I think, as a general rule, we
should give others on RACC the same courtesy we would extend to our
friends.  Which is why we shouldn't make fun of someone too badly.

At the same time, don't dish it out if you can't take it.  To be quite
blunt, Jesse's never been the friendliest guy in the world.  The few
times he's reviewed something, it's almost always snarky,
condescending, and just plain mean.

As the FAQ says, we're not interested in seeing how cleverly you can
rip up someone's story.  Even when I don't like a story, I try to keep
my comments even-keeled and on-story.  And you know why?  Because we're
a community, and I want to help people.

Communities aren't really conducive to parody or satire unless it is
fondly-intended.  I think biting satire or merciless parody has its
place; I don't think it's very respectful, within a community, to make
that community bear the brunt of that.

There's no harm, on the other hand, in riffing on Liefeld's art or
Bendis's endless reams of dialogue/pop culture references-- other than,
y'know, guarunteeing that I'll never, ever get a job at Marvel or with
Liefeld. :-P

> Martin

==Tom




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