Rant, rant, rant...
Oct. 8th, 2010 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chieriiI've seen my fair share of Internet jerks. There are the trolls, there are the ego-heads, and then...there are the fanatics. The ones whose opinions are right, absolutely right, and if you disagree there is something wrong with you, even if your opinion isn't racist or sexist or in any way hurting someone.
A strange case of this happened in the comments of a Youtube video I watched. I know I shouldn't be reading the comments but sometimes, especially when dealing with vague plot points, the commenters have something interesting to say. Anyway, in this comment, someone replied to a flood of comments about how the pretty Asian volunteer for the magic trick in the video was hot. They said they found the shape of Asian eyes disturbing. They were immediately pounced on and labeled racist, even though they hadn't said anything that indicated they thought poorly of Asian people for it. There were some genuinely insulted Asian people (or people pretending to be) in those comments, but the guy apologized to them, clarifying that he didn't think any worse of Asians. It was just a feature he found a little unnerving, with no malice or hatred meant towards the owners of that feature.
Now, maybe this person was racist, and it could have been an attempt to save face. Regardless, it brings up a good point. Like the definition given for TV Tropes's Squick page(squick being a visceral reaction with no attachment to morality), this person, or at least their facade, did not think Asian people were somehow wrong just because the shape of their eyes scared him.
But we're talking about real people here. Real people can be offended by things that were not intended to be offensive. When the subject matter is fictional, the jerks seem so much worse.
I used to frequent a Megaman forum. There was this one jerk who, most of the time, wasn't a jerk at all. Until you dared to disagree with him. For instance, my favorite game in the Megaman Battle Network series was the third, while my least favorite was the fourth. His favorite was the fourth while his least favorite was the third. Instead of being a rational human being and saying, "I disagree, here's why I like my game," I got, "You have no taste, you shouldn't even be playing video games. Go back to your building blocks."
In the Battle Network games, the main character's Japanese name is Netto (Net). In English versions, his name is Lan. As you can see, the pun is still there. It's even the same type of pun - instead of replacing it with another computer-related pun, it's still relating to a network. I just so happen to prefer the name Lan over Netto. Guess which one he preferred? "I'm surprised anyone respects you," was his response to that one.
To this day, it still irks me when someone expresses an opinion that hurts absolutely no one, and someone else responds with, "Fuck you." And in the first case, if it really does offend someone, then there's something partially justified about being a little rude back, I guess. Maybe. But nowhere near suggesting something is morally wrong with them for having a visceral fear they can't control. If there is anything wrong there, it's medical, not moral.
Anyway, sorry for letting the teal deer loose. It was just bothering me, I guess.
A strange case of this happened in the comments of a Youtube video I watched. I know I shouldn't be reading the comments but sometimes, especially when dealing with vague plot points, the commenters have something interesting to say. Anyway, in this comment, someone replied to a flood of comments about how the pretty Asian volunteer for the magic trick in the video was hot. They said they found the shape of Asian eyes disturbing. They were immediately pounced on and labeled racist, even though they hadn't said anything that indicated they thought poorly of Asian people for it. There were some genuinely insulted Asian people (or people pretending to be) in those comments, but the guy apologized to them, clarifying that he didn't think any worse of Asians. It was just a feature he found a little unnerving, with no malice or hatred meant towards the owners of that feature.
Now, maybe this person was racist, and it could have been an attempt to save face. Regardless, it brings up a good point. Like the definition given for TV Tropes's Squick page(squick being a visceral reaction with no attachment to morality), this person, or at least their facade, did not think Asian people were somehow wrong just because the shape of their eyes scared him.
But we're talking about real people here. Real people can be offended by things that were not intended to be offensive. When the subject matter is fictional, the jerks seem so much worse.
I used to frequent a Megaman forum. There was this one jerk who, most of the time, wasn't a jerk at all. Until you dared to disagree with him. For instance, my favorite game in the Megaman Battle Network series was the third, while my least favorite was the fourth. His favorite was the fourth while his least favorite was the third. Instead of being a rational human being and saying, "I disagree, here's why I like my game," I got, "You have no taste, you shouldn't even be playing video games. Go back to your building blocks."
In the Battle Network games, the main character's Japanese name is Netto (Net). In English versions, his name is Lan. As you can see, the pun is still there. It's even the same type of pun - instead of replacing it with another computer-related pun, it's still relating to a network. I just so happen to prefer the name Lan over Netto. Guess which one he preferred? "I'm surprised anyone respects you," was his response to that one.
To this day, it still irks me when someone expresses an opinion that hurts absolutely no one, and someone else responds with, "Fuck you." And in the first case, if it really does offend someone, then there's something partially justified about being a little rude back, I guess. Maybe. But nowhere near suggesting something is morally wrong with them for having a visceral fear they can't control. If there is anything wrong there, it's medical, not moral.
Anyway, sorry for letting the teal deer loose. It was just bothering me, I guess.
