|
The only time I've felt The Onion went too far was Kidnapped Boy Found Safe, Imagines Kidnapped Boy. Noting the date, I imagine everyone at The Onion's office being really upbeat, and then this one guy just goes "Oh yeah?! gently caress YOU!" and pitches this.
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:42
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 03:16 |
|
|
I think the Daily Show writer put it best with "I'm sure that nine year old loves irony" or whatever. The kidnapped boy stuff is dark as gently caress, but the base joke is trying to find humor in a tragedy, and comes from a gallows humor kind of place. That tweet had zero other context, it was just 'woah I called a small child a horrible word, edgy!' If it was like, the perspective of an actress she beat for the part or something that ended with 'and let's be honest she's a real oval office' then you have a joke on Hollywood's back biting and bitter environment or something.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:53
|
|
|
You're literally a moron if you can't see the problem with that tweet. There was no joke. It was just ugly.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:56
|
|
Tater Love 
|
The only joke I could see in it was that we don't expect child actors to have any personality at all. Edit: Basically the same joke as using Mr. Rogers there.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:58
|
|
|
zakharov posted:You're literally a moron if you can't see the problem with that tweet. There was no joke. It was just ugly. There was a joke actually, the tweet was a joke. Some people thought the joke was funny and laughed at it. Some, however, did not.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 01:07
|
|
|
SpiderHyphenMan posted:I figured the joke was to apply the unfounded hatred a lot of celebrities get to a nine year old girl. Kind of like the joke behind last night's Area Woman's Baseless Hatred Of Anne Hathaway Reciprocated. I guess the fact that The Onion apologized shows that there wasn't any joke behind it other than "HA HA WE CALLED A 9 YEAR OLD THE C-WORD!" since they never apologized for "Breaking: Shots Fired at Capitol", which was the last time something they did drew any legitimate criticism. No I'm pretty sure that was the joke, but it was a step too far and got outrage so they apologized. If you did a twitter search for Anne Hathaway last night you saw hundreds of tweets with the same kind of casual use of vile language, for essentially no reason. Same goes for a lot of actresses. The tweet wasn't funny but it's obvious what they were going for.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 01:32
|
|
|
Not that the apology wasn't warranted, but I hope that this doesn't make them pull their punches for a while.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 01:35
|
|
|
I don't think the tweet was that funny, but since the point is essentially that people shouldn't be throwing around this word it's sort of weird that they would have to effectively apologize for the opinions of the imaginary person whose voice the tweet is written in. Humor publications usually end up apologizing in situations where their articles reveal the genuinely repugnant beliefs of their writers, but this is the opposite. I guess if it was more ambiguous I would really feel that it was more of a mistake, but it seems like nearly half of the Onion's articles employ this exact device (putting an offensive viewpoint in a context where it becomes absurd) so I don't understand how people can fail to understand it unless they have never read the Onion before. Of course, since various websites are trying to turn this into a huge issue, there are now going to be tons of people who do read the original tweet with only a vague notion that it's intended to be some sort of joke, somehow, and naturally get offended.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 01:42
|
|
|
That tweet was completely inappropriate. It's only common courtesy for the media to wait until a star is 15 before smearing their name into the ground through a combination of libel and harassment. Duh.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 01:47
|
|
|
There was a show on a couple weeks ago here in Australia, about the shows that got the most complaints to the ABC (government-funded TV network), including interviews with the people behind it. After a clip of a deadpan review of the act of murdering a minor Australian celebrity (that nobody likes) that caused a lot of outcry from a commercial network he had a contract with, they had an interview with the man who wrote and performed the show, who basically said that 'when writing controversial comedy, the most important thing is that it has to be funny'. That's why they're apologizing. The Onion have done controversial articles before, and they're often some of their best, but this tweet failed Black Comedy 101: It has to actually be funny.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 02:20
|
|
|
Satire doesn't necessarily have to be funny. I think that's the key here. The point was not even to be funny in of itself but to try and point out how messed up it is when people casually insult stars like Anne Hathaway because "reasons". And its not just isolated to celebrities but to any woman out there. oval office is an insult thrown around so freely and its almost always for some vague undefinable reason that justifies itself. If you were to ask people who use that term why they think that it nearly always is answered with "because she's just a count!" But I'm no expert on gender relations. I guess my point is I understand why the Onion originally tweeted that and it wasn't simply for shock value. Shimrra Jamaane has a new favorite as of 02:38 on Feb 26, 2013 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 02:27
|
|
|
I get why people are pissed, but I don't really think it was that bad. As many people have said it's clearly pointing out something bad by dialing it up to 11. It's a shame that out of all their much more hard hitting, and relevant articles, the one that gets all the attention is this one.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 03:03
|
|
|
Bluh bluh bluh, bad words and children. I'm kind of surprised many posters here can't understand that all humor can offend, and it's okay to have a line to what you find funny, but you can also recognize when some things are funny but not for you. The tweet wasn't a grand joke, but calling a kid a oval office is hardly the worst joke I've seen a comedy site make.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 03:10
|
|
|
I'm surprised how far some people are willing to go to defend a joke when the creators aren't willing to. They apologized. The "joke" sucked. Let's not waste energy defending it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 03:42
|
|
|
Echo Chamber posted:I'm surprised how far some people are willing to go to defend a joke when the creators aren't willing to.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 03:50
|
|
|
Why aren't Onion videos working for me all of a sudden? Anyone else had this issue?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 06:16
|
|
|
I don't think people really get it - it wasn't tremendously funny but the onion did not actually call a nine year old a 'oval office'. Some are pretty offended by the idea that a staffer just straight up called a girl a oval office for the giggles, but that obviously didn't happen. Rather their biggest mistake was using it in such proximity to the subject, that of a nine year old girl. As someone mentioned earlier, the line was written in the voice of an imaginary (but incredibly common and realistic) person, and by applying it to her only highlighted the utter idiocy and senselessness of calling these actors - whom these lovely twitter critics have never met - that word and similar ones. They are hoping some people will make the tiny mental connection and notice they identical nature between labeling the attitude one would have for calling a nine year old a oval office senseless and nasty and calling say, Anne Hathaway a oval office. But now of course people are getting it totally wrong and I even saw some articles calling it misogyny and racial hatred and all this other rubbish.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 07:07
|
|
|
The best outcome would have been if Quvenzhané Wallis' PR people had come out and said that Quvenzhané and her family totally got the joke and understood that she was not the butt of the joke, and that they're really glad that someone called out the gossip media on their bullshit. But that's probably not going to happen.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 07:15
|
|
|
Aidan_702 posted:
The histrionics in this article are pretty ridiculous http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/25/living/parenting-quvenzhane/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 07:19
|
|
|
That article is atrociously mawkish. :edit: actually the indignation seems so affected and obnoxious, I get the feeling it's more contrived and exploitative than the joke itself - "SEE HOW THOUGHTFUL I AM, ABOUT OUR PRECIOUS ANGEL CHERUBS" Cnn Comments posted:"Agreed, and sadly we'll probably never know who this piece of human garbage is. It would be nice if social media would boycott the Onion until this person is identified, but I'm sure that won't happen. The only way to stop this kind of behavior is to identify the culprits and let them know that as a society, we do not believe in such behavior." Again, someone proving the point better than they know it themselves. Aipsh has a new favorite as of 07:34 on Feb 26, 2013 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 07:26
|
|
|
Bug Bill Murray posted:The histrionics in this article are pretty ridiculous I didn't think the tweet was funny, but this level of response surely is.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 07:56
|
|
|
Good Citizen posted:I didn't think the tweet was funny, but this level of response surely is. We all are, little girl. So, so sorry. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 08:18
|
|
|
Bug Bill Murray posted:http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/25/living/parenting-quvenzhane/index.html?hpt=hp_c2 Oh good lord.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 08:21
|
|
|
Jesus, I get it now. It's the most meta as all gently caress thing The Onion has ever done. They've forced everyone else to make the joke for them. Good God it's brilliant!
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 10:54
|
|
|
U.K. Cardinal Resigns In Wake Of—Get This—Sex Abuse Allegations Who would've guessed?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 11:09
|
|
|
I have a feeling this whole oval office thing would have gone over much better in the UK. Anyway, cuntgate is over. The Onion has moved on to mocking the execution of retards, the assassination of presidents, and mass murder.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 12:13
|
|
|
Aidan_702 posted:I don't think people really get it - it wasn't tremendously funny but the onion did not actually call a nine year old a 'oval office'. Some are pretty offended by the idea that a staffer just straight up called a girl a oval office for the giggles, but that obviously didn't happen. Rather their biggest mistake was using it in such proximity to the subject, that of a nine year old girl. As someone mentioned earlier, the line was written in the voice of an imaginary (but incredibly common and realistic) person, and by applying it to her only highlighted the utter idiocy and senselessness of calling these actors - whom these lovely twitter critics have never met - that word and similar ones.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 20:44
|
|
|
I don't dispute that it was exploitative and in poor taste at all. There's no need to be sarcastic. But we get lose is mire of confusion and flaring tempers if we don't separate the words from the attitudes behind them. It's not like it's uncommon for people to say things they don't mean, or completely gently caress up what they are trying to get across. When people are calling it misogynistic, and racist, and think that a staffer literally thinks a nine year old is a "oval office" it should be clarified. I'm not trying to take some edgy humour high-ground here and I particularly hate exploitative 'comedy'. There is an intelligent way to discuss the issue (which has mostly been resolved) without jumping to conclusions.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 20:52
|
|
|
Aidan_702 posted:I don't dispute that it was exploitative and in poor taste at all. There's no need to be sarcastic. But we get lose is mire of confusion and flaring tempers if we don't separate the words from the attitudes behind them. It's not like it's uncommon for people to say things they don't mean, or completely gently caress up what they are trying to get across. When people are calling it misogynistic, and racist, and think that a staffer literally thinks a nine year old is a "oval office" it should be clarified. I'm not trying to take some edgy humour high-ground here and I particularly hate exploitative 'comedy'. There is an intelligent way to discuss the issue (which has mostly been resolved) without jumping to conclusions. Shut the gently caress up already Humiliated Team Of Cuban Doctors Forced To Continue Treating Long-Dead Fidel Castro
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 21:01
|
|
|
Proud Species Commits Suicide Rather Than Be Driven To Extinction By Humans
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 21:11
|
|
|
"I Slapped A Crying Child And Called Him A friend of the family And I’m The Bad Guy?" Found this one while going through the archives and it feels kind of apt right now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 21:52
|
|
|
Totally TWISTED posted:Why aren't Onion videos working for me all of a sudden? Anyone else had this issue? I've had this happen to me randomly before. I do know that AdBlock will mess with their video player sometimes.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 21:59
|
|
|
Youremother posted:"I Slapped A Crying Child And Called Him A friend of the family And I’m The Bad Guy?" It's only a week old.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 22:24
|
|
|
drat, so it is. I was searching for Flight Attendant Shines Light On Problem Customers and saw the other one I linked in the search and didn't see the date 
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 23:33
|
|
|
redmercer posted:Shut the gently caress up already Yeah dude, thanks for putting him in his place and then posting the latest onion story you found on the site. You're like an angry RSS feed.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 23:34
|
|
|
BobbyK posted:Yeah dude, thanks for putting him in his place and then posting the latest onion story you found on the site. You're like an angry RSS feed. You can't prove it's not my favorite, and it's not like either of this is adding anything to the thread.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 23:43
|
|
|
Echo Chamber posted:I'm surprised how far some people are willing to go to defend a joke when the creators aren't willing to. Uh, the CEO apologized. The creators did not. Though seeing as you're unable to comprehend satire I can understand being unable to see that business and creative arms have different goals.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 23:57
|
|
|
Enderzero posted:Uh, the CEO apologized. The creators did not. Though seeing as you're unable to comprehend satire I can understand being unable to see that business and creative arms have different goals. Thinking the joke wasn't funny doesn't mean someone doesn't understand. It may mean they believe that humour has a limit and lazy writing isn't necessarily defensible just by crying "SATIRE!"
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2013 00:08
|
|
|
 Difficult To Tell If T.J. Maxx Hit Hard By Recession Childbirth To Be Area Woman's Least Painful Interaction With Daughter Heroic Computer Dies To Save World From Master's Thesis
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2013 00:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 03:16 |
|
|
The Onion's coverage of the Academy Awards reminds me of this article: Teacher Of The Year Awards 'A Fashion Nightmare'.
|
|
#
?
Feb 27, 2013 00:20
|
|
