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	llama_treats 2004-08-17 09:18 pm UTC (link)
	A woman who admits to worshipping Jackie Collins has a problem with science fiction fans? HAHAHAHAHA! (Reply to this)

	kijikun 2004-08-17 09:22 pm UTC (link)
	She seems...bitter. And I can't decide is she's trying to be funny or dead serious with the us against them bit.... boggles (Reply to this)(Thread)

	phosfate 2004-08-17 09:31 pm UTC (link)
	She's trying to be funny, bless her little heart. If she were a panhandler, passersby would assume she was trying to dance, and give her 50p to make her go away. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	teratologist 2004-08-17 09:24 pm UTC (link)
	Nah, I read this one as firmly tongue-in-cheek. A tired punchline, and a bit on the dry British humor side, but nevertheless. Perhaps her husband is going to this convention and he forgot to clean the catbox so she decided to tweak him in public. (Reply to this)

	singe 2004-08-17 09:49 pm UTC (link)
	Vader Voice AMIDALA! I'M YO BABY-DADDY! BJOOM! BJOOM! (Reply to this)(Thread)

	plazmah 2004-08-18 04:40 pm UTC (link)
	LOL! Ow. I think I ruptured something. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	singe 2004-08-19 01:07 am UTC (link)
	Loves on your icon OMG (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Icon Love. littlest_lurker 2004-08-19 03:53 am UTC (link)
	Few people make a better "bitch please" face than Samuel L. Jackson. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Icon Love. plazmah 2004-08-19 04:10 am UTC (link)
	I should have made it "Motherfucker, please." instead ;) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	krazycat 2004-08-17 11:28 pm UTC (link)
	"Having an interest in sci-fi is akin to dabbling in drugs." o_o I want what SHE is on!! (Reply to this)(Thread)

	oysteria 2004-08-17 11:43 pm UTC (link)
	Probably a little Heinlein cut with some McCaffrey. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	birdyexmachina 2004-08-18 01:25 pm UTC (link)
	Whoa! That's some deadly stuff she's messing with! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lindentree 2004-08-17 11:40 pm UTC (link)
	"What the mad fools fail to appreciate is the risk involved in rolling out the red carpet to people who are, to a man -- and they are all men -- wired directly to Mars." I don't think a big, hearty "WTF?" even begins to cover that. I'd like to think she was being ironic or tongue-in-cheek or something, but if she was, she didn't do a terribly good job of it. Yikes. (Reply to this)

onetrickpony
2004-08-18 12:37 am UTC (link)

Again with the fan defensiveness! Am I the only one who remembers the massive uproar over a similar article about how kids shouldn't read Harry Potter a few months back. The lady's obviously trying to be funny and a bit snarky, the significant line probably being that one thing sci-fi fans tend to have in common is a 'healthy sense of humour'.

And, hey, she knows how to pull out a handful of sci-fi references. Suspect she's at least on good terms with few geeks if not a closet Trekkie herself ;)

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	kijikun 2004-08-18 03:29 am UTC (link)
	It was very hard to tell this one wether she was serious or not...her humor was ...off. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	iczer6 2004-08-18 07:54 am UTC (link)
	The lady's obviously trying to be funny and a bit snarky, And failing miserably at it. I think the lovely Phosfate summed it up best with this comment (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

onetrickpony
2004-08-18 10:22 am UTC (link)

Well, yes, she's not really succeeding at the whole 'funny and snarky' deal but I was getting pretty clear 'this is meant to be a joke' vibes.

I just think it's silly, the amount of fury that pops up whenever a light hearted article comes along. I mean, think about it for a moment. Would a newspaper (even a small-time local newspaper, which is what this looks like to me) let someone get away with seriously recommending that sci-fi fans be 'neutralised', or whatever it was she said? And sure, it's maybe not particularly hilarous compared to the giddy thrills of 'my hed is pastede on yay' but it's clearly written with humourous intent.

*shrug* Maybe it's just me. Maybe it really is the final call to arms before the holy war between fans and mundanes, but somehow I highly doubt it.

[/wank]

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	kroki_refur 2004-08-18 01:12 pm UTC (link)
	Sadly, The Herald is a major newspaper in Scotland. I found a copy of it on the train yesterday and reminded myself why it sucks so mightily. One glance at the letters page was enough... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	onetrickpony 2004-08-18 04:22 pm UTC (link)
	winces You have my sympathies. But my point remains that just because it's not a very good article, it doesn't mean it's hateful and stupid. Or at least, not for that particular reason... (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	llama_treats 2004-08-18 05:37 pm UTC (link)
	Hateful, no. But that still doesn't rule out the stupid. The Jackie Collins line is still amusing the hell out of me, though! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

onetrickpony
2004-08-18 07:22 pm UTC (link)

Stupid in the sense that she didn't hit the old funnybone, maybe. Stupid in the sense that she's being completely sincere and honestly believes she's somehow superior to nerdkind? Unlikely.

And I took the Jackie Colins line as a 'look, I like frivolous things too, see? I even like Jackie Colins!' type of thing, personally. Especially since she mentioned ol' Jackie in the context of such luminaries as Science Fiction and Orville the Duck ;)

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iczer6
2004-08-18 07:28 pm UTC (link)

Stupid in the sense that she didn't hit the old funnybone, maybe. Stupid in the sense that she's being completely sincere and honestly believes she's somehow superior to nerdkind? Unlikely.

But that's the issue. While she may not believe she's 'superior' to nerd kind that's the impression a LOT of folks got from her article.

And that may be why so many folks did not find her funny.

That's not saying that geeks should never be made fun of, only that she did a really crappy job of it, and came of as being arrogant and insulting when she was actually trying to be funny.

Icz

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onetrickpony
2004-08-18 08:36 pm UTC (link)

Hey, I didn't find her particularly funny myself, but I spotted that she was going for a light-hearted piece when a lot of people took it at face value. Even if you (speaking generically, whenever I say 'you') didn't think it was amusing there was plenty of stuff in the article that should have helped you cotton on to the fact that she didn't necessarily mean it in an arrogant or seriously hurtful way.

What I'm saying is: a joke doesn't have to be funny for you to recognise it as a joke. All these people's collective reaction to it is just the sort of defensive silliness that we saw here and it's that sort of reaction that gives fans the reputation of being the over-sensitive nerds she 'humourously' portrays them as.

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iczer6
2004-08-18 09:38 pm UTC (link)

All these people's collective reaction to it is just the sort of defensive silliness that we saw here and it's that sort of reaction that gives fans the reputation of being the over-sensitive nerds she 'humourously' portrays them as.

Here's where I disagree I don't think it's 'defensive' to be annoyed when you feel you're being talked down and humliated. And that the article had this impact on so many people says to me that fans aren't being defensive, [which in all fairness we can be] but that the article was poorly written and insulting.

And it's rather hard to take the joke at face value when so much of it seems to be rehashing the tired old 'cliches' of the fandom.

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onetrickpony
2004-08-18 10:02 pm UTC (link)

Fair enough, I think we've reached 'agree to disagree' territory here.

I still think that while the author's obviously missed her target by miles, it's a case of people over-reacting to something that isn't really all that horrifying. As you say, it's tired old cliches trotted out for a quick giggle and nothing I can see that's particularly harsh or seriously critical of fan culture. Yeah, you can argue that it's poorly-written because it aimed at 'funny' and sci-fi fans read it as 'mean', but that doesn't mean it was intended as such. A lot of people read it as insulting? All that really tells me is that a lot of people missed the point.

I'd suggest it might be a sort of cultural thing (I think someone's mentioned something about it being 'dry British humour') but I've wanked enough today without pulling out the 'I am English and therefore was born with a sense of humour that iz SUPER-SUBTLE!' credentials ;)

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	kroki_refur 2004-08-19 11:15 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, definitely don't pull out the "British" card. It'll make them think all British humour is as lame as this... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	deoridhe 2004-08-18 04:21 am UTC (link)
	giggles Guess what, guys, I'm an overweight guy who can't get a date! hee hee I mean, I am overweight... and I can't get a date... and... I think I'll be in the corner sobbing now, if you don't mind. goes to corner waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa~h (Reply to this)(Thread)

	phosfate 2004-08-18 02:21 pm UTC (link)
	Shhhhhh...shhhh...pets It's okay. It's okay. Look! It's Wednesday and the new books and comics are out! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	deoridhe 2004-08-18 03:14 pm UTC (link)
	sniffles Really? Wednesday? looks around with new eyes I may be fat and single, but I always have my manga! 8) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	phosfate 2004-08-18 03:19 pm UTC (link)
	That's the spirit! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	smo 2004-08-18 03:54 pm UTC (link)
	Who needs a boyfriend when you have dead gay prettyboys? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kijikun 2004-08-18 06:46 pm UTC (link)
	That needs to be iconed...or turned into a t-shirt. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	onetrickpony 2004-08-18 07:23 pm UTC (link)
	I know I'd cough up for one :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

	amasaglajax 2004-08-18 06:51 am UTC (link)
	I wish she would dress up as Captain Kirk or Spock or whatever. It would be an improvement. In fact, she should just dip her face into a giant boiling vat of Teflon. Then and only then can I rest in peace. rattles chains (Reply to this)

	plazmah 2004-08-18 04:42 pm UTC (link)
	Seemed like a big joke to me. But yes, phofate said it best. (Reply to this)

	iscoffy 2004-08-18 08:27 pm UTC (link)
	I'm stuck on the lycra. Just how much lycra was used in Star Trek? I somehow thought there was more polyester. (Reply to this)

	(Anonymous) 2004-08-19 10:34 am UTC (link)
	Man, that's the worst attempt at tounge and cheak I've seen in a long time. Practicly inviting people to use hayforks and no lube. (Reply to this)

	kroki_refur 2004-08-19 11:13 am UTC (link)
	reads article again Glasgow? B-but that's where I live! If the sci-fi geeks steal all the tinfoil, how will I make my tinhats? makes hasty exit to shops to stock up on tinfoil (Reply to this)

	sarajayechan 2004-08-26 04:43 pm UTC (link)
	rolls eyes Yeah, forget drug addicts and murderers and child molesters! Sci-fi fans and cosplayers are the TRUE evil blight on this poor innocent world! That woman is full of shit. I'd give her a condescending reply, but I'm above that. (Reply to this)