The Big Picture: Dumping Irony

[Edguy]

I never understood the use of irony... Like how the Hell can you tell if something's being ironic instead of just playing it all straight? I never could tell. Nor can I tell when someone's being sarcastic with me...

Just use your.. right ventromedial prefrontal cortex?!

Seriously though, I fail to understand how so many people are unable to detect sarcasm and joking in general, even on the internet. It's pretty obvious, if you are aware of the context, and have some basic social/communication skills..

 

[Evil Smurf]

Bah! It's just the talk of madmen.
If I learned one thing in church(it was hard to do that ;p), it's Jesus loves everyone. Hell, even the new Pope just had a talk with the people around him saying Jesus saved everyone, not just the people who worshiped him.

Besides. ;3 Who could hate your face.

Thanks *giggles*

Wow, that was out of character.

 

[Tim Chuma]

The Chuck Norris cartoon has been re-released as part of the Warner Archive Collection
http://www.oldies.com/product-view/0209ED.html

I thought the Chuck Norris column was exposed for plagiarism?
http://wonkett.com/444199/chuck-norris-plagiarizes-in-his-column-all-the-time

A friend wrote this book as he is passionate about the genre and hates hipsters making fun of movies
http://www.amazon.com/Massacred-Mother-Nature-Exploring-Natural/dp/1936168308

I did go to a screening of Slumber Party Massacre II on the weekend, people dressed up for it
http://photos.timchuma.com/gallery3/index.php/Slumber-Party-Massacre-II-Screening-Tote-25-05-13

The next movie for the club is JAWS 2.

I do get annoyed at people making fun of the Shaw Brothers movies from the 70s I enjoy, although the live beatbox dubbing party I saw in the "Breath Control - History of the Human Beatbox"
http://ghostrobot.com/work/films/breath-control-history-of-the-1.html documentary looked awesome. Kind of a moot point about dubbing as there was no sync-sound for any Hong Kong movie until Police Story 3 in 1992.

 

[lotanerve]

This is what I got from this episode:

Bob wants to be able to watch MLP without having to defend himself.

Good for you Bob!

 

[emeraldrafael]

"life is short, like what you like,"
Meanwhile bob never misses the chance to rip the nineties but glorify the 80s like they were a decade of gods gift to man...

 

[Caostotale]

This was kind of the episode I have been wanting for a while, but was not as direct as I want it to be. I really would like to see Bob's perspective about enjoying and participating in things associated with the "nerdy" or "geeky" stigma, and why there exists such a stigma in the first place. My little personal anecdote was just last night I was talking to my friend about how we should buy some Magic decks and have some fun that I wasn't allowed to have as a kid due to growing up in a home with religious parents who heard that they were satanic. He thought that was an awesome idea but he was embarrassed to be see buying them. I know that comics, Magic, anime, and anything related used to be mainly associated with strange antisocial people who do nothing but what they are obsessed with and that they tend to be physically unfit, unattractive, and lonely. While I am sure people like that exist that is hardly the truth as a whole; furthermore comic characters are now some of the most popular and well known characters thanks mainly to the movies. So I would like to see a well thought out theory why it seems the many people that loved the Avengers movie would be embarrassed to walk into their local comic shop to get an Avengers book.

It's an upsetting state of affairs sometimes, but the stigma's not bound to go away while our existences become more and more socially-integrated and throttled into consumerist oblivion. The way things are these days, more than ever before, kids are pressured to grow up as multiple personalities wrapped into singular human beings. Rather than proudly asserting one's individual nerddom, a modern geek will often spend their college years struggling to become the 'jock' or 'popular girl' they failed to be back in grade/high school (to be sure, I don't mean this literally). As a result of all this social-climbing, the communities surrounding nerdy interests like games, comic-book movies, etc... become more polarized, between a small number of passionate die-hards who will never care much for society's norms and a widening group of half-assed and noncommittal geeks who are more interested in the superficial lifestyle or instant gratification represented by such-and-such an interest.

I think Bob was spot on in pointing out the nucleus of self-effacement (or self-hatred) that characterizes modern life. The private life that is fundamental to a spiritually-balanced nerd lifestyle is under attack from all sides these days and things like the go-to invocation of hipster irony are clear symptoms.

 

[redknightalex]

Interestingly, I associate my guilty pleasures with things that people believe I should like based on certain personality characteristics of mine. For some reason, I don't want people to know my guilty pleasures because then they might believe I only watch a show, watch a movie, or read a book because I would fit into their media stereotype of who they think I am. Usually this revolves around my sexuality instead of any geeky/nerdy traits I have, so saying I loved watching Buffy makes me a bit more than self-conscious about it. Still, accepting that what you like (within a very murky moral view, ie no crime) and saying it out loud are sometimes hard to do.

As for irony...I probably misuse it myself a lot yet it's not part of my everyday vernacular. And the Internet, imho, has given us much worse things than the misuse of irony or Chuck Norris. For some reason I'm thinking of YouTube comments at this particular moment but other pointless things like cat pictures don't hold a lot of value either.

 

[Endocrom]

Who was the star of that cartoon? I don't think they said his name enough, maybe if they said it 10 times instead of just 9 I would remember.

 

[Eric the Orange]

"life is short, like what you like,"
Meanwhile bob never misses the chance to rip the nineties but glorify the 80s like they were a decade of gods gift to man...

I don't see how these contradict each other.

 

[Kelgair]

I watched and participated in the internet culture during the zenith of the Chuck Norris jokes, I didn't see actual irony play a part in much of them. They were just stupid "this guy is so badass he X..." jokes. It worked because Chuck Norris had a rather consistent imagery of being a badass during his initial fame. The jokes were also mostly perpetuated by the more recent generation. For example, I was in my mid 20s when the meme started and most people doing and perpetuating the jokes were in their teens. So I'd contend that that it wasn't so much a Gen X inspired "Irony" meme as it was generic meme that used an artifact of what Gen X grew up with.

I do wonder if this was less a video about Gen X's use of irony than a video about Chuck Norris' apparent resurgence in the popular culture.

HA ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! xD I remember this! How could I forget this?!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

He and his wife didn't outright say it, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out what he is talking about.
Here this is the video. -snip- (never mind that he and his wife were quoting Reagan, who was not talking about what you think.)]

Great, I'm a bad Christian for being a communist. Thanks for giving me the stupids internet.

Well, technically you're a bad communist for being a Christian. Since expelling/suppressing religion was the first thing most communist regimes have done, since there is no higher power than the state in their... well I guess, in your view.

 

[Abomination]

I actually am really happy about what has happened to Chuck Norris.

I think it's just a load of fun... of course his views on politics and religion should probably have stayed buried.

 

[Gilhelmi]

I will agree with you on the Chuck Norris movies, and animated series, and many others.

BUT, "Walker: Texas Ranger" was awesome. Not ironically, but in real appreciation of that show. I can only think of a couple episodes that got weird, but everything has one or two bad episodes. "Walker" was awesome.

 

[Strazdas]

What if i genuinely like chuck norris?

I mean beside the fact that you only included this segment because chucks beard allowed you to.

 

[Mojo]

snip.

snip

Not what I meant. I just mean it's no longer seen as strange to say you like a Nickelodeon cartoon. You can like Invader Zim because it funny and the animation is great. Where before it seemed more like, Invader Zim can be liked because it's a perversely dark kids show. You no longer have to be emo or goth to like it. You don't have to be a Girl to like MLP, you don't have to be a kid to like any cartoon you like.

That's another reason I think it hurts shows like Family Guy and other 'Adult' cartoons that were on the 'safe to like' list.

You're making it sound like its a bad thing, buy why would it be? Or am I just misinterpreting your message here? If so, then I'm sorry and must agree that in this case things really have changed for the better. I love me some Zim, Adventure Time or MLP.

 

[RTR]

Whenever I hear "irony", I think back to Futurama:

 

[DoveAlexa]

"Life is short, like what you like"

He forgot to mention how life completely SUCKS and we have to take relief where we can find it.

Also, as an aside, it's not like Masters of the Universe messes you up like recreational drugs, so I don't see how people would be ashamed of enjoying it. I don't see people letting their kids die because they had to watch He-Man.

 

[Jegsimmons]

Few things I can take from Bob's latest episode.

1) I enjoy some bad movies and I'm not afraid to admit that. I recently rented Street Fighter and I love it. Not out of the ironic sense that web culture has misstated and beaten the fuck to death cop-out of watching something because its ironic. I watch it and love it because its an over-the-top bad interpretation of the Street Fighter games with seriously cheesy dialog and hammy acting, mostly from Raul Julia's part (God rest his soul).

2) I barely remember the Chuck Norris animated series and I wish to God I could forget what I just saw with that intro. Repetition of his name is an understatement.

I do recall other 80s movies turned into TV shows for kids and not just the popular Real Ghostbusters. Rambo had an animated series, Karate Kid had one, Conan had two by my recollection, and Bob even mentioned that Toxic Avenger got a show called Toxic Crusaders (had the action figures myself).

3) Totally agree that the Chuck Norris gag has been one of many things the Internet ran into the ground and it shouldn't have started it to begin with imo. If I may, I'd like to offer two memes that are appropriate in this case.

Spoiler

EDIT: Almost forgot to add this. Life is too short trying to be something you're not or liking what other people like. Be yourself and enjoy what you like. Because, most of the time, the majority is usually wrong about what they like.

You know Bruce Lee and Norris were really good friends and never spoke about who was better to keep that friendship.

also, Bruce is good, but he wasn't a competition fighter, Norris won the world karate championship 6 times in a row and retired undefeated. So Norris really is kind of a badass. wish i can look that good in my mid 70s.


But anyway, I agree with what bob said about dialing back irony.
Especially since 'enjoying something ironically' isn't so irony as much as a 'guilty pleasure' which are 2 different things.
Ain't nothing wrong with a guilty pleasure.

 

[ZexionSephiroth]

Whenever I hear "irony", I think back to Futurama:

So "Irony": Expressing things other than the literal intent.

Use of Irony: "If I get married, I would Rather Marry this you you know I hate, than anyone else."

Meaning: "You think I hate him, but I don't, and I'm already married to him."

...

Wait... Then what the heck is an Ironic punishment?

OOOH I know! It's Poetic Justice!

Then... Should We be saying that things we like despite having stupid ass parts we don't make it "Enjoying it Poetically"?

Urgh... that feels dirty to say...

In any case... I don't deal with literal Irony too much. I'm more into Situational Irony or as some would call it "Expectational Irony"... When doing something like setting out to make the worst musical possible ends with people loving the ever living heck out of it.

Or when you Write a song about the very thing you hate from the hated's perspective and somehow the song comes out like a pretty catchy Pop song... And normally you hate pop songs but this one you actually like for some reason you can't explain.

My use of situational Irony works... Somehow... For me... In that sometimes I hate what something stands for... Yet I still enjoy it because "F***! It's somehow Catchy! Why is a song about something so stupid so good?!"

...But On the other hand, while I find it "Ironic" that I like something, I don't actually find myself to be enjoying something "Ironically". Because when I like something... I really do like it... I'm just honestly surprised I like it... And continue to be surprised I like it even after enjoying it for a while.

It's Like Listening to Ke$ha when you hate the Drinking and Partying Lifestyle. It's a pretty good sounding set of songs... BUT WHY ON EARTH DO THEY HAVE TO BE SONGS ABOUT DRINKING AND PARTYING AND GETTING SENSUAL WITH SOMEONE?!

Its Ironic... But its not?

RAGHGHGHGHGA!!!

I HATE IRONY! ITS CONFUSING!

 

[Elijah Newton]

Nice sentiment. Also, thanks for pointing out the relative quality (or lack thereof) of Norris's movies. I've never actually seen them and was thinking of watching them. Maybe will, someday, but I'm pretty certain I can spend my time better on almost anything else.

 

[Furrama]

The thing with Chuck in the early internet days, ( and Barrens Chat in WoW, which was worse), is that Chuck himself didn't matter. It was oneupmanship on how to make the silliest joke along the same lines. The fact that it WAS Chuck, and not some other tougher guy, made it all the sillier. We weren't joking off Bruce Lee or someone like him, but Chuck "hey lets make fun of Texas at the same time" Norris.