University Threatens Criminal Charges Over Firefly Poster

[maninahat]

I think the whole problem was caused by the fact that no one watched fucking Firefly. Don't tell me people watched that show; if that was true, it wouldn't have been cancelled. So people passing by don't necessarily know it is a comical quote from a beloved tv show, and misinterperate it as the kind of stupid, bumber-sticker-esque threat.

I'm bemused that there seems to be an infrastructure designed to stop bumber-sticker-esque threats, but I could understand a university seeing the poster as inappropriate and creating a bad image, so they should be allowed to tell him to take it down anyway.

 

[maninahat]

I think the whole problem was caused by the fact that no one watched fucking Firefly. Don't tell me people watched that show; if that was true, it wouldn't have been cancelled.

It was cancelled upon the specific insistence of the same executive who forced the cancellation of Dark Angel. If it was merely a ratings issue, Fox would have allowed Sci-Fi to buy the property. They didn't even give an outrageous quote, they merely said no.

I find that a tad dubious. Fox is a business and as such, I assume it would almost certainly sell a show if it a)could and b) was of financial interest to them. Perhaps Sci-Fi failed to make a decent offer (if it had made one at all). No, I go with the reasoning that it lacked interest. It had only a "measly 4.7 million" viewer average per episode, which for a show of its relative cost, would have made it a no brainer for cancellation.

 

[Zing]

"Warning: Fascism. Fascism can cause blunt head trauma and/or violent death. Keep fascism away from children and pets."

I like this man. He likes Firefly, he's good people. Hope that Police Chief gets fired.

 

[Zing]

I think the whole problem was caused by the fact that no one watched fucking Firefly. Don't tell me people watched that show; if that was true, it wouldn't have been cancelled.

It was cancelled upon the specific insistence of the same executive who forced the cancellation of Dark Angel. If it was merely a ratings issue, Fox would have allowed Sci-Fi to buy the property. They didn't even give an outrageous quote, they merely said no.

I find that a tad dubious. Fox is a business and as such, I assume it would almost certainly sell a show if it a)could and b) was of financial interest to them. Perhaps Sci-Fi failed to make a decent offer (if it had made one at all). No, I go with the reasoning that it lacked interest. It had only a "measly 4.7 million" viewer average per episode, which for a show of its relative cost, would have made it a no brainer for cancellation.

I assume you know the story as to why it had low ratings and was thusly cancelled? They aired episodes COMPLETELY out of order. If you go read the order then watch it on the DVD in order you will understand how completely confusing the series would have been when it first aired. I was only 13 at the time and it never aired in Australia so I don't know, but there was no hope for the series with how they aired it.

 

[hooksashands]

Everyone knows how dangerous posters can be. John Wilkes Booth shot Abe Lincoln after he saw the poster for a 50 Cent movie. It's true.

 

[Stall]

That professor is such a whiny little *****. Universities are places of employment like anywhere else. They're BUSINESSES. They have the right to tell their employees what they can and cannot hang in their office. Would people be flipping their lid if any other business did this? What makes universities any different than any other place of business?

Perhaps he should have studied something significant, so he could worry about important things like research instead of starting a childish little war with the administration over a fucking poster. The professor brought this upon his self. If he had left well enough alone and accepted that his poster got taken down, and NOT acted like a passive-aggressive prima donna, then he wouldn't be in this situation, now would he?

Seriously people. This is what happens when you don't follow the rules and bylaws put forth by your bosses-- you get screwed. There's nothing to defend here. He made his choice, he made bad choices, and now he is going to be punished for those bad choices. Anyone defending this man needs to take a good, long hard look at their argument, and perhaps what they consider reality as well.

 

[BlackWidower]

Okay, two things: First, that quote is the opposite of a threat. It says 'I would never kill in cold blood.' That's the opposite of a threat. Secondly, it's a public university, which means tax dollars go to fund it. That means the people pay for their operations, which shouldn't include repressing someone's right to express themselves.

Now, I find it all the more ironic that the second poster he put up was exactly a political message, they just used the violence thing as an excuse. The slippery slope may be a fallacy, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

 

[BlackWidower]

A firefly poster isn't going to help me learn. Nor is a poster that talks about killing me.

It's not about you. Nothing in this is about you.

Hey congratulations for missing my point entirely. Which was obviously that the argument the poster should not have been taken down because it's a "learning environment" is irrelevant because the poster itself is not educational. It's just a nerdy tv quote that some professor stuck on the outside of his door in a public space, probably because he thought he was being clever.

This is about not having a Professor suffering criminal charges by an incompetent bully.

Oh the police chief is incompetent now too huh?
You know what's incompetent? Putting up an inflammatory poster when you've been warned that doing so will net you criminal charges. And then crying for help to some outside organization when that actually happens.


The only thing the police chief arguably did wrong is not given the professor notice that the first poster would be taken down. But then again, she's not obligated to tell him, it's just a courtesy. And for all we know he may have been told and ignored it.

What is education? Education is, basically, the sharing of ideas and information. Some of the greatest science fiction has challenged peoples ideas. If that's not education, then what is!?

"A free country is a marketplace of ideas, and college should be more free, not less." - Penn Jillette

Also, we are talking about a poster, we're not talking about hitting someone. Even if it offends someone, so what? I'm offended every time I pass by a church, doesn't mean I want every church to shut down. Also, what do you mean by inflammatory? Do you mean something that people might get angry about? If we worry every step of the way that we might say something that offends someone, then we will never say anything, because everything can be misinterpreted.

So the police chief decided to take down the poster, and warned the professor that it would happen. Are you saying he shouldn't fight it? It's a goddamn poster, and he's in the right. It doesn't hurt anyone, but telling people they can't say certain things, well, it hurts us all.

 

[LeQuack_Is_Back]

After reading this, and dealing with some of the downright terrible policies my own University has, I'm wondering if there's some sort of "derp quota" they need to meet. Seriously.

 

[theultimateend]

I'm not big on suing...but he should drill them.

Screw anyone that is so stupid they'd be alarmed by that poster.

Good lord...does no college trust Google yet?

This was a bone-headed move by the professor. Every college/university in America is bat-shit crazy when it comes to violence and anythign that could REMOTELY be misconstrued as supporting unlawful or self-depricating actions.

And they're right to do it. Because yes, 99% of the campus won't be effected. But that 1% will. and that 1% leads to another Virginia Tech, another suicide, another rape, another problem.

You might not believe it. You might not think it's true. But then you've obviously never been to any higher education facility, and if you have attended one, you probably weren't involved in any sort of leadership position.

College is a time of extreme stress where the slightest thing can send someone over the edge. It's full of hormones, alcohol, drugs, and sex. Combine those ingredients and you have a recipe for impending disaster.

having lived through VT, the JMU riots, Radford related troubles... knowing people who go to such schools as LSU and UCLA, etc., I completely understand and support the university's decision.

I'm not going to waste too much time since you spent a paragraph being an asshole. I bolded it in case you are oblivious to your own rudeness.

The 1% of people who snap (which is hyperbolic at best, 1% is FAR too high) are going to do so regardless.

It was an overreaction by the college, you cannot protect anyone by censoring things. It was silly of the college.

I went to college, I lead multiple organizations and I was routinely published in the college paper. There was a tragic death while I was in college, that death would have happened no matter what posters had been posted anywhere on campus.

The girl who did the killing got off free, because they quote "didn't want to ruin her life." She had been driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol and ran down a foreign exchange student.

It gets worse, he could have survived had she not left him bleeding out on the street. And beyond that he had just got done calling back to his home country to tell his family he had made it to America safely.

Survives 20+ years in another country, dies within 24 hours of being within the US. (Western Washington University if you care to look up the incident).

It was a tragic event, I was furious she got off, but that doesn't change the fact that no amount of pussy footing by the campus could have saved that kid.

Anyways I'm wasting far too much time on you. Enjoy going around insulting people.

 

[screwvalve]

That lady police chief already proved to be beyond stupid, when, after the second poster was placed, she did not get the irony, and called on it at promoting violence and death. The poster could have this police chief photo with a caption saying "the stupid is strong in this one" and she would have objected to the poster making references to stupidity and thus needed to be removed.

 

[Anodos]

A firefly poster isn't going to help me learn. Nor is a poster that talks about killing me.

It's not about you. Nothing in this is about you.

Hey congratulations for missing my point entirely. Which was obviously that the argument the poster should not have been taken down because it's a "learning environment" is irrelevant because the poster itself is not educational. It's just a nerdy tv quote that some professor stuck on the outside of his door in a public space, probably because he thought he was being clever.

This is about not having a Professor suffering criminal charges by an incompetent bully.

Oh the police chief is incompetent now too huh?
You know what's incompetent? Putting up an inflammatory poster when you've been warned that doing so will net you criminal charges. And then crying for help to some outside organization when that actually happens.


The only thing the police chief arguably did wrong is not given the professor notice that the first poster would be taken down. But then again, she's not obligated to tell him, it's just a courtesy. And for all we know he may have been told and ignored it.

My english teacher had a twilight zone looking poster that made it look like his peephole was the mans eye. Non-educational, but it was awesome and his fucking office.