Ex: 05/01/2010 [DMFA#1112] Teh gay! It's just a show!

[A. Lurker]

The name Tina stands out from the others.  I wonder if the Tina character stands out from her family, or if it's just a rose being a rose.  But it's sorta like if Cthulu had a brother named Bob.

Cthulhu does have a brother named Bob. You may even have met him. He's a traveling door-to-door salesman.

You won't find him in the Necronomicon, though. See, the rest of the family were too embarrassed to actually bring him up during that interview with Al-Hazred...

[VAE]

The name Tina stands out from the others.  I wonder if the Tina character stands out from her family, or if it's just a rose being a rose.  But it's sorta like if Cthulu had a brother named Bob.

Cthulhu does have a brother named Bob. You may even have met him. He's a traveling door-to-door salesman.

You won't find him in the Necronomicon, though. See, the rest of the family were too embarrassed to actually bring him up during that interview with Al-Hazred...

It isn't Bob, it's "Bob" , as in J.R."Bob"Dobbs

[candide]

I'm smelling... a lot of incoming over-sensitivity and whining about to be directed at the character of Dan.

Why?

Amber's bringing out part of Dan's Uglier Side.  It expands the character and gives Dan greater depth.

{Not to mention it shows that Amber has mad storytelling skills.  Even if she won't admit it to herself.}

For folks crying about understanding and acceptance (or a lack thereof, in this case) on Dan's part, I find it amusing that, after looking at this thread and the last already,

Nobody was crying about understanding and acceptance in the last thread.

I, on the other hand, took #1111 as an opportunity to perform some consciousness-raising about the "lifestyle" slur.  And, yes, boys and girs, it is a slur, one used by rightwing religious fanatics in the US for the past 30-40 years to denigrate LGBT-folk.  Because, you see, about half the time the word, "lifestyle" is brandished, it's followed by another word: "choice."  As if who you fall in love with is merely the cause of choosing to, "live a lifestyle," or somesuch nonsense.

But since Mao opened the doorway, I'll do a little more consciousness-raising.  Imagine that people are telling lies about you.  Dozens of lies.  Really nasty, pernicious lies.  Not, "he likes to sing, 'I'm a Little Teapot,' in his underwear while balancing a cupcake on his head" -level lies.  More like, "he likes to kick kittens and slowly kill puppies," -grade lies.  Lies that you do sick and/or evil things.  Imagine that they're spreading these lies day after day, year after year, decade after decade.  You try and counteract one lie with the truth, only to find yourself having to defend your good name against another lie.  Some years, you think you've done it.  You think that everyone's finally clued in that the lies about you are just that.  Then a few years later, some resurface and start spreading.  Again.

Multiple lies.  Lies that you are or do sick/evil things.  Constantly spread over the course of years.  How would that make you feel?

No, really, get those mirror-neurons firing and imagine what that would be like.  Got it?  You feeling it?

Now imagine that the entire Catholic Church is spreading one of those lies, with the Pope himself alluding to it.  Because that's what's happening to gay men right now, kiddies.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Why?

Amber's bringing out part of Dan's Uglier Side.  It expands the character and gives Dan greater depth.

{Not to mention it shows that Amber has mad storytelling skills.  Even if she won't admit it to herself.}

The much simpler alternative, is that Amber simply didn't know  the charged meaning of the word "lifestyle" when applied to homosexuality.  See here. Can you make the case that Mab is also possessing an ugly, homophobic side that needs exploring through that arc?

Amber's a great artist, but we've seen it before, she misuses words sometimes, especially when they're not the sort of vocabulary in common purveyance.  Consider Death wish, which means that someone wants to die, not to kill. Or Semi-omnipotence, when Fa'Lina is referring to her ability to foresee all outcomes, which is more along the lines of omniscience.

Personally, I'm much more likely to believe this is just another case of misapplied verbiage.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

It isn't Bob, it's "Bob" , as in J.R."Bob"Dobbs

Ah, Church of the Subgenius.

Now imagine that the entire Catholic Church is spreading one of those lies, with the Pope himself alluding to it.  Because that's what's happening to gay men right now, kiddies.

What, you mean like, "The Pope is infallible" ? "Priests are always upright, stalwart men who have the moral courage to do right, all the time" ? Or one of their other lies?

Not that I'm cynical or something...

[Mao]

I'm smelling... a lot of incoming over-sensitivity and whining about to be directed at the character of Dan.

Why?

Amber's bringing out part of Dan's Uglier Side.  It expands the character and gives Dan greater depth.

{Not to mention it shows that Amber has mad storytelling skills.  Even if she won't admit it to herself.}

Why?  Why does this have to be instantly an 'uglier' side to him, hmm?  Why is he instantly the bad guy?  He's trying to understand it in his own way.  He's new to the idea and frankly he doesn't seem too familiar with it, and beyond that, it's with someone who he has an antagonistic friendship with.  Yeah, maybe he's insensitive about it, but you paint it up like he's got some dark, deep seated ignorance/hatred that he has rooted up in him because he's didn't deal with the possibility of Abel being gay in the utmost sensitive and perfect manner.  This is something I have grown to hate quite a bit.  Not everyone is a sensitive person, but when the issue of homosexuality comes in, it suddenly becomes more than just 'they're insensitive' to 'they're insensitive and they're clearly ignorant people who are in need of education'.

For folks crying about understanding and acceptance (or a lack thereof, in this case) on Dan's part, I find it amusing that, after looking at this thread and the last already,

Nobody was crying about understanding and acceptance in the last thread.

I, on the other hand, took #1111 as an opportunity to perform some consciousness-raising about the "lifestyle" slur.  And, yes, boys and girs, it is a slur, one used by rightwing religious fanatics in the US for the past 30-40 years to denigrate LGBT-folk.  Because, you see, about half the time the word, "lifestyle" is brandished, it's followed by another word: "choice."  As if who you fall in love with is merely the cause of choosing to, "live a lifestyle," or somesuch nonsense.

And here's another beef:  Why do you suddenly feel the need to come around and 'raise our consciousness'?  Rather than take things on a case by case basis, you just start blanket toss out this stuff assuming that 1) that folks here *need* it and that 2) they want to hear it.  I'm no fan of the 'rightwing religious fanatics' either but no one asked you to be their counter point.  I'm no fan of others who run around trumpeting their cause in my ears either, because as far as I'm concerned that's what the other side is doing too.  I find it incredibly annoying and unnecessary.  If folks want to know your story and side of things, they'll ask.  This goes to both sides of that.

But since Mao opened the doorway, I'll do a little more consciousness-raising.  Imagine that people are telling lies about you.  Dozens of lies.  Really nasty, pernicious lies.  Not, "he likes to sing, 'I'm a Little Teapot,' in his underwear while balancing a cupcake on his head" -level lies.  More like, "he likes to kick kittens and slowly kill puppies," -grade lies.  Lies that you do sick and/or evil things.  Imagine that they're spreading these lies day after day, year after year, decade after decade.  You try and counteract one lie with the truth, only to find yourself having to defend your good name against another lie.  Some years, you think you've done it.  You think that everyone's finally clued in that the lies about you are just that.  Then a few years later, some resurface and start spreading.  Again.

Now look at another side then, since all you've done so far is whine about how rough you've (or those who share your feelings) got it.  How about those of us who now, because you have a beef with others, have to listen to you spout this stuff off all the time.  There are those of us who couldn't care less what you do in your bedroom.  It isn't relevant to our interactions with you.  We couldn't care less about your war with one group or another, and would rather just get to know you without being made to feel like we're being 1) 'educated' or having our 'consciousness-raised' as though we need/want it, 2) being made to feel as though we should be fighting some great injustice when really it's nothing more than a case of two groups with very conflicting views and 3) we're either with you or against you.  Your sexual orientation and crusading doesn't interest me.

Multiple lies.  Lies that you are or do sick/evil things.  Constantly spread over the course of years.  How would that make you feel?

No, really, get those mirror-neurons firing and imagine what that would be like.  Got it?  You feeling it?

You think talking down to people is going to make them more amicable to your cause?  Take a page from my book and save that stuff for trolling.

Now imagine that the entire Catholic Church is spreading one of those lies, with the Pope himself alluding to it.  Because that's what's happening to gay men right now, kiddies.

Kiddies?  Wow, you must really not want to be taken seriously.  Right now, and I'm only going to link this in a url as it is going to be offensive to others and it is pushing the pg13 limit, but you're really starting to remind me of Chris Crocker.

Keep your bedroom activities and crusades to yourself.

[candide]

I'm smelling... a lot of incoming over-sensitivity and whining about to be directed at the character of Dan.

Why?

Amber's bringing out part of Dan's Uglier Side.  It expands the character and gives Dan greater depth.

{Not to mention it shows that Amber has mad storytelling skills.  Even if she won't admit it to herself.}

Why?  Why does this have to be instantly an 'uglier' side to him, hmm?  Why is he instantly the bad guy?

Again, I never said that he's, "the bad guy."  Those are your words.

And why shouldn't Dan have a not-so-nice aspect or two?  Nobody's pristine and lily-white.

{Certainly not me; as you rightfully and uncomfortably pointed out, I came across far snarkier than I intended in my last post.  I could protest that it wasn't my intent, but that doesn't matter.  You received it as insulting.  I'm stuck with that, whether I like it or not.}

The much simpler alternative, is that Amber simply didn't know  the charged meaning of the word "lifestyle" when applied to homosexuality.

I don't agree.  Amber knows what she's doing, and all of the strips this weekend show that Dan has some ... problems with gay guys. 

I also have to disagree with something that someone else said:  I don't think that Dan is going to, "be shown the light and reformed."  In my experience, guys in real life who show the same kind of behavior as Dan is here either take a long, long time to let go of their misconceptions, or they entrench and grow nastier and less-tolerant.

I suspect that Dan's gonna continue to act like this, {as much as some readers won't like it} because it creates dramatic-conflict, a key component of every good story.

And here's another beef:  Why do you suddenly feel the need to come around and 'raise our consciousness'?

The first time, it was to point out how someone who's gay or lesbian would react to being reduced to, "a lifestyle choice."  {And before you accuse me of it, yes, yes it was self-interested.  I don't like admitting that, but I'm not perfect and I won't run from being human.}

The second time was because you opened the door for it.   

Keep your bedroom activities and crusades to yourself.

"bedroom activities"?!?!?   

Wrong in so many ways.  It's ...   You're ...

No.  Just ... no.  Not going to even start.

[Mao]

Again, I never said that he's, "the bad guy."  Those are your words.

And why shouldn't Dan have a not-so-nice aspect or two?  Nobody's pristine and lily-white.

{Certainly not me; as you rightfully and uncomfortably pointed out, I came across far snarkier than I intended in my last post.  I could protest that it wasn't my intent, but that doesn't matter.  You received it as insulting.  I'm stuck with that, whether I like it or not.}

Big difference between the words 'not-so-nice' and ugly.  You're making him out to be something he's not and, in my opinion, making a mountain out of a mole hill.  You're also still side-stepping that it's less likely that he's 'got an ugly side' towards homosexuality and more likely that he's just trying to antagonize Abel.

I don't agree.  Amber knows what she's doing, and all of the strips this weekend show that Dan has some ... problems with gay guys. 

Funny, he seems to deal just fine with Jyrras.

I also have to disagree with something that someone else said:  I don't think that Dan is going to, "be shown the light and reformed."  In my experience, guys in real life who show the same kind of behavior as Dan is here either take a long, long time to let go of their misconceptions, or they entrench and grow nastier and less-tolerant.

Wow.  Generalize much?  I don't mean to play down your experiences here, but frankly you make some rather nasty generalizations.  This does not help your cause much when you seem to be trying to attack what *you* feel are unfair generalizations.

And here's another beef:  Why do you suddenly feel the need to come around and 'raise our consciousness'?

The first time, it was to point out how someone who's gay or lesbian would react to being reduced to, "a lifestyle choice."  {And before you accuse me of it, yes, yes it was self-interested.  I don't like admitting that, but I'm not perfect and I won't run from being human.}

The second time was because you opened the door for it.   

Oddly enough, not every gay person feels the same as you!  At this point, I can count three people who identify themselves as being either gay, lesbian or bisexual (haven't had any trans-gendered weigh in on it) who understand the intent and didn't get worked up about it.  I didn't open the door to it, you started throwing out your opinions and started running your crusade here.

Keep your bedroom activities and crusades to yourself.

"bedroom activities"?!?!?   

Wrong in so many ways.  It's ...   You're ...

No.  Just ... no.  Not going to even start.

If you're going to try and form an argument with me, actually argue it.  If you're going to claim that all I've done is reduce your personal life to sexuality, then you're reading into the statement way more and just trying to open up another avenue to what appears to be an attempt to bring a rather hotly debated, drama inducing crusade to a public place.

I don't care which side of this argument you're on, it's tired and done.  I don't care about politically correct terms or sensitivity.  People come here to talk about a comic, not to be berated or to have propaganda from either side of this silly war shoved in their face.  Your personal life is your own.  Your personal wars are your own.  I'm not an admin, but as a member of this community I'm going to ask you, as a friend and fellow fan of DMFA, don't bring this drama inducing crap here.