Popehat: Fear Cuts Deeper Than Swords: Bergen Community College Freaks Out Over "Game of Thrones" T-Shirt.

Francis Schmidt is a popular professor of design and animation at Bergen. Schmidt posted to Google+ a cute picture of his young daughter wearing a Game of Thrones t-shirt in a yoga pose next to a cat. The t-shirt was this one, bearing the phrase "I will take what is mine with fire and blood," a quote from Daenerys Targaryen, a fictional character in a series of fantasy novels (which has sold tens of millions of copies) turned into a hot TV series on HBO (with close to 15 million viewers per episode.) Googling the phrase will instantly provide a context to anyone unfamiliar with the series.

So: a professor posts a cute picture of his kid in a t-shirt with a saying from a much-talked-about tv show. In the America we'd like to believe in, nothing happens. But in the America we've allowed to creep up on us, this happens:

 

More, including Bergen Community College doubling down, at the link.

Kim Keeline describes being booted out of the mall for cosplaying in Steampunk Carousel Outing Cut Short By Security Guards.

When I chose my long floral skirt and the matching puff sleeved Victorian top, and put the green feather in my hair, I didn't realize I would be seen as a threatening figure. I just chose the outfit because I thought it was pretty. With my husband, in his brand new top hat, and the rest of my family, I was looking forward to a fun and slightly whimsical day, with a short ride on a carousel and what I hoped would be some flattering photos. It didn't have to turn into a run-in with police.

A group of people in Steampunk clothes gathered to ride the carousel at the Westfield Plaza Camino Real (in either Carlsbad and Oceanside, depending on whom you talk to). This was the third such gathering to ride a carousel. In October the group had been at Westfield Parkway Plaza (now no longer a Westfield, but it was at the time) and in December they were at Seaport Village.

Before 1pm, as a few of the Steampunk fans were walking the mall to shop and eat lunch before the carousel ride, security stopped them and insisted that they leave because of their “costumes.” They also called the Oceanside Police, who sent two cars.

As I was one of the carousel riders, I want to clear up a few facts about this event.

Far more at the article at the link, which is currently among the most emailed and commented on at KPBS's site.

Double header! I may engage in some hyperbole in the following paraphrases, but I've also had like, five cups of coffee. Please bear with me.

First Unfunny: Seth MacFarlane.



Second Unfunny: Onion makes joke that not only falls flat, but takes out several bystanders and kills a kitten on the way down. The premise was, they called nine year old Oscar nominee Quvenzhane Wallis a cunt. The joke was that no one would ever say such a thing about her. Except, in fact, people were saying that shit about her, and say that shit to little nine year old black girls all the time*. Link is Laura Hudson's explanation and commentary on the matter.

The Onion has apologized (that's the tumblr apology, I'm not linking to the facebook one because the comments hurt my soul even more), which moves us to phase 2 of the problem, where there are now people in the comments and elsewhere shaming the Onion for apologizing for insulting a nine year old girl.

Here's one where because his friends are dicks to each other, it's okay to dehumanize a nine year old girl. Other arguments include the assumption that all jokes are sacred, comedians never fuck up, and somehow it's a personal affront when someone else apologizes for hurting someone. Also humour is dead forever because they apologized. No links to those ones, those are in the comments and you can't make me go in there to paste.

You can't.

Speaking of comments, even positive posts about Quvenzhane were filled with nastiness in the comments.

Also for some reason some people think a nine year old girl should not have had a purse shaped like a dog.

I'm going to repeat nine year old girl some more.


Sidefail: The visual effects community sees red in the wake of Oscar protest and on-air snub. They didn't pay a VFX house, people are out of work, and when a guy tried to talk about it at the Oscars they cut the mic.



*Do not take my emphasis on the youth of Quvenzhane Wallis to in any way mean I consider that appropriate to call anyone of any age. I just feel so bad for her. People wouldn't call her by her name in the interviews, MacFarlane made a sex joke about her, and etc, etc, etc.