Grumblr

[MrMixelPixel]

I didn't know what the hell anyone was talking about. So I had my tumblr friend elaborate in a pretty professional, rational way.

Let me see if I understand. Parts (like with many social media sites, though this might be a worst offender) of tumblr are filled with angry, sensitive people on both sides that just scream, complain, and cry about things and get lots of attention for it? And much if this is in relation to "social justice"?

 

[Fsyco]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember one of my professors (as an aside, it wasn't part of the lecture) explained 'cultural appropriation', and it seemed like a thing that societies just do naturally. A 'counter-culture' arises within the dominant culture, and is initially frowned upon and told to sod off, but then the dominant culture 'absorbs' it, and makes it part of their own as a fad, and then the counter-culture is left as a watered-down, 'lighter' version of its original incarnation. Hippie culture is probably the best example I can think of. Hip-hop is also probably a good example. How exactly do you fight that?

While on the subject, isn't the Tumblr-outrage about 'cultural appropriation' racist in itself, since they're basically upset for people not staying in their little culture box?

Cultural appropriation also refers to the tendency of cultures in power to assimilate parts of cultures not in power, without knowing the importance of such parts and usually using such parts incredibly ignorantly (which often results in harmful stereotypes). An easy example of this is the use of the war-chants and Navajo head-dresses to stereotype American Indians.

So what are the harmful consequences of this, and how do you stop doing it? I'm not really sure how you stop people from imitating something that they think is cool from another culture.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember one of my professors (as an aside, it wasn't part of the lecture) explained 'cultural appropriation', and it seemed like a thing that societies just do naturally. A 'counter-culture' arises within the dominant culture, and is initially frowned upon and told to sod off, but then the dominant culture 'absorbs' it, and makes it part of their own as a fad, and then the counter-culture is left as a watered-down, 'lighter' version of its original incarnation. Hippie culture is probably the best example I can think of. Hip-hop is also probably a good example. How exactly do you fight that?

While on the subject, isn't the Tumblr-outrage about 'cultural appropriation' racist in itself, since they're basically upset for people not staying in their little culture box?

Cultural appropriation also refers to the tendency of cultures in power to assimilate parts of cultures not in power, without knowing the importance of such parts and usually using such parts incredibly ignorantly (which often results in harmful stereotypes). An easy example of this is the use of the war-chants and Navajo head-dresses to stereotype American Indians.

So what are the harmful consequences of this, and how do you stop doing it? I'm not really sure how you stop people from imitating something that they think is cool from another culture.

Harmful consequences are that you insult and mock people of other cultures, alienating them and harming useful cross-cultural dialogue and/or integration. How to stop it is by making people aware they are hurting others for no good reason, and most will stop on their own as most people are empathetic. Making sure that you are not alienating others via stereotypes and ignorance helps a little as well.

 

[The Wooster]

Oh wow, this thread has turned into some sort of weird self-fulfilling prophecy.

After going through the comments, I agree. As someone who was openly against the 'white guy defence force', I feel like I should say I like this one because it doesn't specifically strawman a demographic, merely trends on a particular social media outlet.

Both jokes rely on "strawmen" (like all satire does). The only difference is this one has a point you happen to agree with.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Oh wow, this thread has turned into some sort of weird self-fulfilling prophecy.

After going through the comments, I agree. As someone who was openly against the 'white guy defence force', I feel like I should say I like this one because it doesn't specifically strawman a demographic, merely trends on a particular social media outlet.

Both jokes rely on "strawmen" (like all satire does). The only difference is this one has a point you happen to agree with.

Oh, I know that they're both strawmen. As a Tumblr user myself, I'm aware that I'm not the kind of person being described here. I'm saying this is an example of a strawman that is actually funny, regardless of agreement or disagreement. That's what made the that comic's parodies so much funnier.

Spoiler: For example:

But while one strawman is a trend, the other is a person or group of people. There's no one specifically being attacked in this comic, which is why I like it.

To put it more simply, it's like comparing jokes about Judaism as a faith and culture with jokes about Israel as a nation. There's similar subject matter, similar themes, but while one is directed as an attack on a way of life, another's humour is produced by self-awareness. The subject of the joke is not necessarily the butt of the joke, per se.

EDIT: My issue wasn't the strawman or whether I agree, so much as it was the beating of horse that fully decomposed over a decade ago. I just figure I should clarify that.

 

[Atmos Duality]

It's compelling because it helps think about things, share ideas and also learn about and develop ourselves. In fact, I wouldn't care even if nobody read this post.

Heh.
It almost sounds like some twisted form of self-therapy when you put it that way.
Almost.

 

[joshuaayt]

I honestly think Tumblr's community is something that needs to exist. Is it overtly, almost maniacally, accusatory at times? Sure, but you can't deny that it gets people talking and thinking about actual issues when they maybe wouldn't have.
If just one case in a thousand of someone calling me an asshole for thinking or saying something holds merit, and it becomes something I'm aware of and can try to rectify, that's an overall positive thing.

 

[88chaz88]

Oh, I know that they're both strawmen. As a Tumblr user myself, I'm aware that I'm not the kind of person being described here. I'm saying this is an example of a strawman that is actually funny, regardless of agreement or disagreement. That's what made the that comic's parodies so much funnier.

Nope. You only think it's "funny" if you agree, that's the only possible way you could find those garbage parodies "funnier". You seem to enjoy laughing at other people yet have no ability to find comedy at your own view's expense. You don't care about the comedy, only enjoy having your own opinion spewed back at you, much like the majority of George Carlin fans.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Oh, I know that they're both strawmen. As a Tumblr user myself, I'm aware that I'm not the kind of person being described here. I'm saying this is an example of a strawman that is actually funny, regardless of agreement or disagreement. That's what made the that comic's parodies so much funnier.

Nope. You only think it's "funny" if you agree, that's the only possible way you could find those garbage parodies "funnier". You seem to enjoy laughing at other people yet have no ability to find comedy at your own view's expense. You don't care about the comedy, only enjoy having your own opinion spewed back at you, much like the majority of George Carlin fans.

Oh come on, the Webcomic White Knights is so much better than the source material.

You might have a point if I were neither a Tumblr user, a liberal, or someone who likes this comic for the most part. Unfortunately for you, you don't.

Besides, [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/no-true-scotsman] just [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/black-or-white] take [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/tu-quoque] your [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/ad-hominem] pick [https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/false-cause]. You might as well have just written "NO U" for all your post was worth.

 

[88chaz88]

You might have a point if I were neither a Tumblr user, a liberal, or someone who likes this comic for the most part. Unfortunately for you, you don't.

Just being a tumblr user or self professed liberal doesn't mean you share the views that the comic is satirising, that's the same bullshit logic that made people think WGDF was "putting down the white man". And of course you like the comic, for the most part it's poking fun at the crap in the games industry that we all agree is shit.

Perhaps I'm wrong for attacking you personally. I don't know what your issue with WGDF is (though the parodies are just poorly constructed kneejerk reactions), I myself didn't quite like the Zimmerman reference since I'm of the "innocent until proven guilty" line of reasoning, but I've certainly noticed that there's a large subset of fans of any creator who just enjoy their own opinions being regurgitated. Grey and Jim Sterling get this all the time as usually their opinions are 'safe' within the angry videogamer community, but as soon as something they say conflicts or becomes the least bit controversial, instead of asking or analysing why such a person they usually agree with thinks this, the 'fans' grab their torches and pitchforks.

 

[Moth_Monk]

Society isn't going to get fixed by policing people's sense of humour. It's going to get fixed once the energy crisis is addressed properly.

 

[The Wooster]

Oh, I know that they're both strawmen. As a Tumblr user myself, I'm aware that I'm not the kind of person being described here. I'm saying this is an example of a strawman that is actually funny, regardless of agreement or disagreement. That's what made the that comic's parodies so much funnier.

Nope. You only think it's "funny" if you agree, that's the only possible way you could find those garbage parodies "funnier". You seem to enjoy laughing at other people yet have no ability to find comedy at your own view's expense. You don't care about the comedy, only enjoy having your own opinion spewed back at you, much like the majority of George Carlin fans.

Oh come on, the Webcomic White Knights is so much better than the source material.

It's the same joke, dude. Only now it's aligned with your views, which makes it funny. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just how comedy works for most people.

 

[Lord Krunk]

You might have a point if I were neither a Tumblr user, a liberal, or someone who likes this comic for the most part. Unfortunately for you, you don't.

Just being a tumblr user or self professed liberal doesn't mean you share the views that the comic is satirising, that's the same bullshit logic that made people think WGDF was "putting down the white man". And of course you like the comic, for the most part it's poking fun at the crap in the games industry that we all agree is shit.

Perhaps I'm wrong for attacking you personally. I don't know what your issue with WGDF is (though the parodies are just poorly constructed kneejerk reactions), I myself didn't quite like the Zimmerman reference since I'm of the "innocent until proven guilty" line of reasoning, but I've certainly noticed that there's a large subset of fans of any creator who just enjoy their own opinions being regurgitated. Grey and Jim Sterling get this all the time as usually their opinions are 'safe' within the angry videogamer community, but as soon as something they say conflicts or becomes the least bit controversial, instead of asking or analysing why such a person they usually agree with thinks this, the 'fans' grab their torches and pitchforks.

I should reiterate that I really don't care what the subject of a joke is, so long as it's done tastefully. Or failing that, at least done well. To be honest, the real punchline of these comics are the comments sections. The craft is what interests me, not the intended audience.

The Penny Arcade Dickwolves fiasco is a good example of how not to do it. It was funny while it lasted, but they beat that horse way too hard for way too long, and it reflected rather poorly on them.

My issue with WGDF is that, having read and seen quite a bit of Grey's stuff, I know he's better than clickbait trolling. Much like Cerberus Syndrome (example: the infamous miscarriage in Ctrl+Alt+Del), that kind of comic is a sure warning sign of a lack of ideas. The shark-jumping moment, if you will.

My original commenting was to congratulate Cory for steering away from blatantly trying to rile people up for views. It still is, honestly; I don't see why people would get anywhere near as worked up at this compared to WGDF because it isn't lampooning anyone in particular. I mean, there was a bit of backlash, and it was probably meant to, but most of the Tumblr users who have posted here have been generally positive toward it. If Grey were to make a joke about the Tumblr-SJW community the same as WGDF (compared to the comic above), it would probably have featured a morbidly obese white girl raping a horse with a strapon, screaming at people to both love her and kill themselves for about 6 panels. I'm not even exaggerating here. Well, I am, but that's the point.

 

[Muspelheim]

Critical Miss; Something for Everyone.

I feel that Tumblr and the people who are equally vicious but only against it is a rather good thing overall. Something you can look at and say "See? It's a free country!". I feel the Otherkins fill this roll rather well, too.

 

[LetalisK]

Oh wow, this thread has turned into some sort of weird self-fulfilling prophecy.

After going through the comments, I agree. As someone who was openly against the 'white guy defence force', I feel like I should say I like this one because it doesn't specifically strawman a demographic, merely trends on a particular social media outlet.

Both jokes rely on "strawmen" (like all satire does). The only difference is this one has a point you happen to agree with.

Yeah, but the one that doesn't agree with me is a personal attack because I have a suicide pact with my viewpoint that demands that I must defend even the most extreme aspects of my "tribe" that even I may not agree with or else the "others" score an Internet point. It's just good science.

 

[Skull Bearer]

I wanted to share this as it's a pretty good example of the kind of batshit crazy we get on tumblr:

whenever cis ppl speak out against “cisphobia” it’s always a passive aggressive cute little comic. if they get loud and angry then they’ll sound oppressive and mean which isn’t the goal. they want 2 sound nice and sweet but they actually are completely aware that they’re a group of oppressive and mean ppl. idk if that makes sense. basically they just want off the hook for their actions



To put it into context, in response to the #diecisscum tag on tumblr, a bunch of people have made polite powerpoints and comics explaining that being shitarses to everyone isn't the way to go, this is the SJW response to these polite comics.

 

[SKBPinkie]

Ugh.

This bullshit-ass social justice crap deserves ignorance, not a whole bunch of passive aggressive shitheads on both sides of the conversation. It's the sort of thing that simply cannot be discussed in a civil manner on the internet. Please leave this topic for real-life with friends.

Also, what the hell happened to the whole "humor" bit? Why are so many webcomics obsessed with cynicism?

 

[purf]

So... there are two Tumblrs?

Because, the one I use and like gives me no freaking idea what this is all about.
I once stepped into angsty yet smug teen shithead world, something like two years ago. Is that the same?
I wouldn't know. I closed the tab and haven't seen it ever since.

 

[Something Amyss]

Erin needs to check her privilege.

White ciswomen can't make this kind of joke!

This would probably be funnier if I actually used tumblr, but from the sounds of it I don't want to.

The weird thing about Tumblr is that it looks like 102% of its users hate it. So if the people who hated it simply stopped frequenting it, there would be less than nobody making trouble. The people who ***** about Tumblr seem to be completely self-inflicting. It'd be like if Fox News' audience was 98% blacks and womens who raged at their misogynist race baiting.

SJW on tumblr spoiling our fun, pointing out our privilege, amirite?

Disappointing.

I feel your post requires a trigger warning. I am scarred.

 

[Something Amyss]

This bullshit-ass social justice crap deserves ignorance

Ignorance s the primary response to it, so....

Also, what the hell happened to the whole "humor" bit? Why are so many webcomics obsessed with cynicism?

It's still there. It's the part you called out as passive-aggressive.