[Discussion] Superman's sig - Flamebait?

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-03-08 05:38pm

I would like to point out that there's actually a difference between mockery and simple insults: a distinction which seems to have been forgotten by those who equate my sig to Superman's sig. There's a difference between mocking certain Republican political views and making a sig saying "Republicans suck ass".

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2006-03-08 05:45pm

As an anime fan myself, I found it amusing.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2006-03-08 09:34pm

With Ein and Spanky now going at it, is anime itself flamebait?

Post by **Kuja** » 2006-03-08 11:55pm

Knife wrote:With Ein and Spanky now going at it, is anime itself flamebait?

No, that's just Spanky's hair trigger at work.

Connor MacLeod · Post by **Connor MacLeod** » 2006-03-09 12:02am

Darth Wong wrote:I would like to point out that there's actually a difference between mockery and simple insults: a distinction which seems to have been forgotten by those who equate my sig to Superman's sig. There's a difference between mocking certain Republican political views and making a sig saying "Republicans suck ass".

Wouldn't that kind of depend on the person though? I'm sure if youo showed your sigs to enough people, someone would be bound to get pissed off (no matter how irrational it seems.)

Anyhow, that's just me. Like I said, I like anime, and I don't see a problem with it.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2006-03-09 09:49am

I may be very late with this entry but I just found this PM in my inbox (lazy of me I know) and think its worth putting up here. I know that only Senators may make arguments on the Senate floor and if I'm out of line for posting this so be it. Consider it a Governor reading a letter from a concerned constituent into the record. I figured this person was concerned enough to write I should allow him to have a voice here for a moment, while many of his points have already been raised I thought it might give us a feel for what the plebes feel on this issue.

Davis 51 wrote:Dear Stravo:

In the Senate thread regarding Supes sig, you wrote:
"Mike's sig is a rotating bashing of various folks from Creationists to Republicans so do we say that someone who has a sig that makes good natured fun of an unpopular group on this board is OK but bash something a little more popular suddenly it's flame bait?

Personally it doesn't bother me that much - afterall if anime fans can be insulted by something as childish as that then they need to buy a sense of humor - but I can see the concern. Mine is that if we're going after people that have sigs that are insulting to a nebulous group ie. Anime fans then we should be just as even handed in our approach to people's sigs that attack far less sacred cows on here like Bush or Republicans or whatever."

While I understand the message you are trying to get across, as an Anime Fan, I would like make a few points, and I would appreciate it if you would raise them in the Senate for me.

Supes's signature states that "Anime Seriously Sucks" (he has since removed the "shitting on otaku" part,) but the fact is that his signature has no merrit and makes severe inflammatory generalizations about Anime in general, whereas Mike's infamous rotating signatures actuall have backing. For example, one of Mike's sigs states "ENERGY INDUSTRY PRICE GOUGING. Remember, it's only bad when Arabs do it." "The Others state "Hi! I'm Pat Robertson and MY family values start in YOUR bedroom," "The Evil Atheist Conspiracy: We're responsable for pornography, gay marriage, liberalism, and the colour "cyan, and we're coming to get you!" and my personal favorite, "Intelligent Design: Because Science is just too important to leave to those damned scientists."

Notice how all of Mike's signatures have either been proven true on the board several times, or offer some form of evidence (or satire) to back it up, whereas Supes's sig has no such backing? The problem is that his sig makes no attempt to back up his poorly drawn conclusion. I could make a signature myself saying "I am a SOB: Sci-fi Obviously Blows!" (for the record, I also like sci-fi). He is not making fun of a political belief or utterly irrational line of thinking, but a much larger genre/medium, that has absolutely no logic behind it, obviously meant to stir up trouble among the Anime community at SD.Net (as it already may have, judging by the massive backlash coming from his thead in testing). Hardly in "good-natured fun"

Again, I would be very greatful if you would raise these points for me in the Senate. Thanks a ton!

Sincerely,
Davis 51

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2006-03-09 10:40am

Stravo, what are you thinking? We're politicians now! We're not supposed to give a shit about our constituents!

Anyway, personally, I don't really care what happens to Superman's sig. I don't dislike all anime; it's the fan club I have problems with.

Post by **Coyote** » 2006-03-09 11:32am

I don't mind Anime, in fact I really like a lot of it, but like Durandal and others have stated, the fanclub tends to get irritating. The sig is fine; anyone offended by it needs to obtain a sense of perspective.

Sonnenburg · Post by **Sonnenburg** » 2006-03-09 05:29pm

The fact that the board may have a large number of anime fans should be of no relevance. The degree to which the signature manages to be satifical is also of no relevance. Even if the signature would pose an unpopular opinion that is executed in a moronic fashion, so long as it does not cross the line to being "too offensive" or "too annoying" it should remain, if only as a monument to the poster's idiocy. I don't see anything warranting the removal of the signature.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2006-03-12 05:53am

I just ignore it.

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2006-03-13 05:41pm

I find it interesting that Davis asserts that a persons personal opinion lacks backing - its Superman's personal opinion, thus the evidence presented to him shows that from where he stands, yes all anime does suck.

Its an interesting bit of reasoning; not quite circular, but definately not spot on. he starts with the premise that since he likes anime, that means everyone else will like what he likes (at least some of it) and thus contradicting opinions lack support. however, this is an issue of personal taste, not an issue where historical evidence and past actions can be cited, thus his initial premise is flawed.

whatever. don't mind me.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2006-03-13 06:08pm

Opinions need to be backed up by some rational thinking or syllogism that is sound in reasoning to the person holding that opinion, at least. Saying all anime sucks after seeing 5 minutes of one episode of some crap like DBZ is not exactly rational and anyone would trounce that viewpoint easily. If, however, you've had a very large exposure to the source material and it just doesn't grab you and the otaku are bugging you to boot, then go ahead.

I can't say I'm all that bothered anymore, though first seeing the sig I questioned whether it would be allowed given some limitations on sig material.

As it stands, no action need be taken unless it breaks, say, the personal vendetta rule and attacks Spanky directly.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-03-14 03:08am

On some levels, anime fans remind me of Marvel Comics fans who called bigger, more expensive books "graphic novels" to lend them credibility. Why is it even called "anime"? Is it because "cartoons" doesn't sound pretentious enough?

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2006-03-14 03:33am

Darth Wong wrote:On some levels, anime fans remind me of Marvel Comics fans who called bigger, more expensive books "graphic novels" to lend them credibility. Why is it even called "anime"? Is it because "cartoons" doesn't sound pretentious enough?

In the 80's, it used to be called "Japanimation". But that was deemed a bit too politically incorrect.