God bless the goddamn Onion

the thing is its not too different from weird al's sicker jokes. so it feels not-so-horrible in that sense.

I think the problem with Seth MacFarlane's humor and The Onion's joke are both parodic in a way that assumes familiarity with institutions or source media, but they're consumed or delivered by audiences that aren't aware.

There is such a thing as crossing the line within that parody, and there's bad parody. I think that twitter commentary on the Oscars isn't deep enough to throw out such a barb about a child actress, and it might fall flat regardless. MacFarlane's issue is that his parody isn't that good without the shock value, and without the parodic understanding it is too shocking. So basically the humor and shock rely on each other to a point where it's so weak it just sucks.

I mean, then there's the "haha, in the future we KNOW Seth is gay!" joke that I saw in gawker's lowlights reel. I mean, is this supposed to be commentary on people who think calling people gay is funny, or is it just "hah hah, you are gay?" I think the former is nonexistent without acknowledging the latter's appeal, which is nonexistent to me.

the onion joke could have worked, i think, in the context of a lengthy gossip column that created a proper context. the problem with ironic tweets in general is someone just retweets the one, and other people see it without the surrounding conversation. i'm basically afraid to make jokes there.

yeah -- i follow onion on twitter, and a lot of times the lines they excerpt from articles when linking them aren't as funny out of context until i click and read the whole thing

sorry, should have posted half of that to the oscars thread, but I really can't stop posting everywhere that macfarlane is bad

I mean, then there's the "haha, in the future we KNOW Seth is gay!" joke that I saw in gawker's lowlights reel. I mean, is this supposed to be commentary on people who think calling people gay is funny, or is it just "hah hah, you are gay?" I think the former is nonexistent without acknowledging the latter's appeal, which is nonexistent to me.

― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Monday, February 25, 2013 4:49 PM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

when macfarlane hosted a comedy central roast, there were a hundred jokes about "lol this guy who loves showtunes is clearly on the down low," and he seemed to happily play along with it, so he prob just thinks that's a go-to way to make fun of himself

I think the problem with Seth MacFarlane's humor and The Onion's joke are both parodic in a way that assumes familiarity with institutions or source media, but they're consumed or delivered by audiences that aren't aware.

You realize this is basically the argument humorless old idiots make when claiming that "young people get all their news from The Daily Show", right? People who read The Onion are aware that there is a larger culture which The Onion is parodying, I assure you.

I think he meant that the Onion is often taken out of context, with a single article or something being read by an audience that isn't familiar with the Onion's status as satiric paper of record. And that these people may not also be aware that the target of satire is, uh, worthy of being targeted? Which is just another way of saying they don't get the joke, the joke doesn't even exist for them to get. "Bitchy celebrity gossip Twitter" isn't a thing, it barely registers as a meaningful string of words. So, double humorless whammy, the Onion is read seriously, AND finding out that it's satire STILL doesn't make it funny. Maybe this is just a strawman propped up by smug progressive internet young people, but I'm pretty sure that there are people that find out that this isn't true, and still conclude that there's nothing funny about it, at all. You just don't joke about some stuff. Then you have this situation, where people DO get what the satirical target is (bitchy celebrity gossip Twitter), and still think that calling 9yo girls cunts is pretty atrocious.

the people who're maddest about it (among whom, nobody'll be surprised to learn, are people I dig a lot and consider friends) are going into the "an apology is not enough!" mode which is social-justice-web for "I'm glad to have another thing to talk at length about"

haha this is so otm

this tweet was shitty and all but salon.com having like three cover stories on it seems like overkill

The tweet was hilarious, but whoever posted it is an idiot for not anticipating the storm that was sure to follow. It was a joke too sub rosa even for the Onion. I'm sure every one of you has heard, told or retold a joke like that.

My mind was kind of blown today when I saw the official apology thing earlier without knowing exactly what they were referring to right away. I read it three times trying to figure out what I was missing.

They were apologizing for Seth McFarlane's existence.

it's really kind of amazing that someone besides MacFarlane is taking most of the heat today. i assumed as soon as he was announced as host that he would say something that wouldn't raise any eyebrows on Family Guy that if said on the Oscars would dominate the news cycle for the rest of the week.

I thought the onion's thing was pretty whatever until that gif of quvenzhane flexing at the oscars was posted a bunch of places and there are TONS of comments along the lines of "that girl needs to learn some humility, i saw her on leno and she was so full of herself, I HATE HER" and the tone just seems a little off? like, veering close into "uppity" territory? and in that context the onion's calling her a cunt feels less like "haha, it's funny because she's obviously not a cunt" and more like what a ton of assholes are saying for real

i wish there were an app that automatically hid online comments, seriously get so depressed by shit like that

The Onion's satire is usually so painstakingly perfect but obviously comes in longer form, not sure Twitter is really a medium for them. That tweet was always going to be too on the nose to avoid condemnation, and you could probably find a better way to make the joke they were trying to make.

They still are a massive force for good generally, whether they're being overtly political or just surreal, the site uses language in a more interesting way than most other publications and it's always refreshing as a result.

i feel kind of bad for the onion really, because it is a poor medium for them but what are they going to do, not have a twitter? post shit like "site updated, check it out!" sympathy could probably be better expended elsewhere i guess but it is kind of a bummer for them

maybe if they had distinct accounts for various characters or something that would help. i mean novelty twitter is a terrible unfunny mess, but if anyone could do it right...

Is cunt still a really offensive and shocking word in the US, or someting? I feel like that tweet could have been made here and would have raised eybrows/ire but not anywhere like this level.

In fact something similar happened at one of our local shitty awards things - some comedienne tweeted somwthing sexist and clearly OTT about Bindi Irwin, and... now I think about it, that did get an ass kicking as well, so.

yes xp

in the non-US english-speaking world it's generally directed at men, right?

Oddly enough, yeah I think so. If I say "youre being a complete cunt" I'm likely to say it to a guy, i think.

wait

It was crude and offensive—not to mention inconsistent with The Onion’s commitment to parody and satire, however biting.

we've been trolled

they've satirized public non-apologies, we are through the looking glass

i feel kind of bad for the onion really, because it is a poor medium for them but what are they going to do, not have a twitter? post shit like "site updated, check it out!" sympathy could probably be better expended elsewhere i guess but it is kind of a bummer for them

― ehkarl, Monday, February 25, 2013 6:56 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ehh most of their tweets ARE just links to full-length articles. there's nothing wrong with having one or two dedicated writers just do tweet-length jokes for the twitter but it's hardly essential.

Is cunt still a really offensive and shocking word in the US, or someting?

yes totally

my thanks to gbx for more eloquently explaining my words above, in the spirit I meant them

I also immediately thought, having not seen the original tweet, that The Onion's apology was possibly a barb aimed at MacFarlane. Regardless of whether it was meant that way, it still is.

Surprised you've never noticed the discrepancy before, Trayce -- "cunt" is for some reason probably the most obscene word in the US! Not sure how we got there, but you could drop a "motherfucker" in the middle of a sentence and get less of a reaction.

one or two dedicated writers just do tweet-length jokes for the twitter but it's hardly essential.

― luaka boppa flame (some dude), Monday, February 25, 2013 8:08 PM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark

I disagree it's absolutely essential and also I am looking for a job right now

i've seen your tweetfolio, i don't think you're ready for the big leagues son

you don't even know about my secret account @JODYHiGHROLLER

in case it needs piling on, I'm an AmE speaker who will happily say "fuck" in mixed company but never "cunt" in a million billion years.

(which incidentally just a couple days ago I had to tell my boss, whose first language was not English, why "Tosser", while a cute variation on our team's name, would not be a suitable name for a mascot. He was amused.)

anyway if the Onion were ever going to break character to apologize for something I'm glad it was this.

yeah i'm fine with this being the occasion where that happens, even if i think the joke was more horribly formed than shocking per se, and that the blowback has been disproportionate

I recently read a few books about the compilation of the first Oxford English Dictionary that were rather boring. The one thing I did take away was that while the OED's strivance for exhaustiveness and comprehensiveness was often compromised for the sake of contemporary Victorian morality, with words like 'masterbaton' and euphemisms for various body parts/functions either left out or given short shrift, the editors and lexicographers refused to compromise on 'cunt.' This due to the fact that it was to them, a noble word had such a rich & storied history in the language and otherwise aesthetically pleasing. I'd love to read something informative about how 'cunt' came to be the most vulgar & offensive word im North America.

just want to take a brief moment to say walloginas

Yeah, in the US, there are two words that are suffixed with "-word," and that's the c-word and the n-word. Nothing else.

And it's very interesting to see the discrepancies about how people here approach the two of them, also. They are equal but incredibly separate in power.

f-word

A lot of people liked the L-Word...

the c-word dialogue in this thread

I definitely don't count The L Word.

:)

I definitely don't cunt The L Word.

hahaha

http://i50.tinypic.com/2a6mnva.png

oh pleeeease rmde 4ever

lol

Am I supposed to laugh at the absurdity of the statement? Am I supposed to look at my daughter and think, wow, it would be really really funny and smart if someone jokingly called her the c word? How ironic.

Some people are more ironic than others........ life isn't fair but isn't that ~the opposite of what u expect~ ◑.◑