Comments on: And you know, it’s not just Brooke McEldowney

By: paperboy

paperboy — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:21:10 +0000

Hey, CIDU Bill; in the category list on the left there’s a “Charles Shultz” listed, but no “Charles Schulz”, the creator of “Peanuts”.

By: Cidu Bill

Cidu Bill — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:22:15 +0000

trlkly, the issue here (at least for me) isn’t the severity of the insult but rather the inappropriateness of gratuitously insulting the parents at all. There’s a pretty wide disconnect between “I don’t care what they think” and “they can go to hell”

By: trlkly

trlkly — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:13:58 +0000

I think this is way overblown. I live in the freakin’ Bible Belt, where even low level cursing is frowned upon, and “Go to hell” still has very little sting. It just means “I don’t care what they think”, but with a slight bit of invective.

I do find the idea inherently stupid that saying “FU” is acceptable, while “go to hell” is not. Hell is barely a even a curse word. Notice how nobody has a problem saying it here, while the “F-word” remains unspoken.

The truth is that, in many social circles, telling someone to “go to hell” is actually within the circle of decency (although on the outer edge.) And I think people know this: if it was truly offensive, there would be calls to boycott the artist.

By: mkilby

mkilby — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:46:03 +0000

@ P(owers?) 31 - Thanks VERY much!

@ CIDU Bill - Are you interested in “reforming” the categories to correct typos? This one has “Sendack” with a C, and I’ve also seen “governor(s)” with and without an S. I’m sure there are others, those are just the ones I’ve noticed. Also, is there a reason that the category list is double spaced? It makes the page “jump” (because of the colossal length change) when it finishes loading.

By: p

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 20:00:05 +0000

mkilby: 12 November, 1959
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/8720/peanutslovemankindqj3.gif

Sendak has always been grouchy as hell, if his interviewing persona is anything to go by.

By: CIDU Bill

CIDU Bill — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:42:59 +0000

Don’t look at me, mkilby, I was going entirely from memory: Whenever the original strip appeared was probably when I read it.

By: mkilby

mkilby — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:32:34 +0000

@ CIDU Bill (24) and Powers (27):
I googled the Linus quote, and found all sorts of references (including a number of icky religious screeds), but I can NOT find the DATE of the original Peanuts strip (or an image). I’d be grateful for a tip or a link to either one.

By: labradog

labradog — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:26:42 +0000

I think telling overprotective parents to go to hell is a good thing.
Seconded.

By: Powers

Powers — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 13:06:44 +0000

Bill: It was Linus. Lucy was questioning his desire to be a doctor, claiming that he doesn’t have a deep and abiding love for humanity. He protested with that quotation.

By: Cidu Bill

Cidu Bill — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:32:26 +0000

Okay, let’s discuss Mr. Sendak’s grievances. How about “Hey, tough shit”? Nobody was asking him an insulting or insensitive question, and nobody was criticizing his work. The interviewer asked a reasonable question and if he’s uncomfortable with the question, he can either write different books or stop giving interviews. Or he could have asked the interviewer ahead of time not to ask him that question because it annoys him. I’ve conducted many interviews, and I’ve never said no to this sort of request.

Saying “They can go to hell” shows the sort of lack of impulse control that might seem moderately cute in 6-year-old Max, is a little weird for the 10-year-old movie version (seriously, wouldn’t a 10-year-old who bites his mother be in therapy?), and is entirely out of line for a grown-up under these circumstances.