Riddle me this, Batman: How come everybody found it so acceptable to make fun of Terri Schiavo?

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I've had some conflicting emotions about all of this. On the one hand, the Hulk Terri stuff bothered me. On the other, I compared her to a large hamburger just a few hours ago. I guess that when it's all said and done, no matter how crass the joke is, it's not like Terri's going to give a crap about it.

And there's something else to it, something about an anorexic woman in a vegetative state being legally starved to death for thirteen days.

Add the jugglers and protesters and Jeb & Jessie, and you can't help but laugh.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:46 (nineteen years ago) link

What I personally can't believe and found very interesting is how being braindead or whatever affects your appearance. It's hard to deny that she was rather attractive in her youth, and towards the end you really wouldn't know they were the same person.

xpost

― kate/thank you friendly cloud (papa november), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:46 (nineteen years ago) link

well, so does being dead!

― cutty (mcutt), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:48 (nineteen years ago) link

i liked when john stewart was going on the other nite about how congress couldn't help everybody so they were gonna help people one at a time starting with terri. and next up they were gonna pass the "bill jones needs a liver act". (that wasn't the name they used, but it was just some random person.)

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:48 (nineteen years ago) link

i had to laff at the fox news ticker i saw walking home today, something like "vatican says: schiavo's life unnaturally, arbitrarily ended." the "arbitrary and unnatural" giveth, etc.

― f--gg (gcannon), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:48 (nineteen years ago) link

tho i gather they're big on feeding tubes these days.

― f--gg (gcannon), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:49 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm caught on the pretty basic notion of respecting the human Terri once was, who did nothing worthy of the particular negative attention that's been directed her way. And how in my head (but a lot of the arguments upthread have softened this) any appropriation of her image for political gain or counter-assault is exploitative.

― Remy Ulysses Fitzgerald (x Jeremy), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:50 (nineteen years ago) link

i'm bemused by it sorta. yeah i'm offended, yeah it's in poor taste, but i can declare that to myself and shut the book on it. i wouldn't print that on the front page of the new york times, but if i spend three seconds halfheartedly chuckling at it hopefully the fates will look the other way.

― jody von oy (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:51 (nineteen years ago) link

what's interesting is that this in no way has become a case study for why eating disorders are really fucked and that body image is such a problem in america. this is a gendered issue, and it's something no one has touched, even though it's at the root of the problem.

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:51 (nineteen years ago) link

i wouldn't print that

the photoshopping i mean.

― jody von oy (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:51 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm with you, Remy.

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:52 (nineteen years ago) link

i'm sure michael schiavo really appreciated people on 'his side' photoshopping his dying wife's photo onto the cover of a big black album and renaming it 'songs about fucking terry schiavo'. it's the thought that counts!

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:52 (nineteen years ago) link

What I personally can't believe and found very interesting is how being braindead or whatever affects your appearance.

Yeah, it's actually startling...even mild permanent brain damage will affect the way you look. I have no idea what it is, but I've seen it personally. It starts doing weird things, maybe you don't have the same control over your facial muscles as you used to? And the worse it is, the worse the muscular problem is...? I have no idea.

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:53 (nineteen years ago) link

the american civil pigfucking union

― f--gg (gcannon), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:54 (nineteen years ago) link

i don't think it's the braindeadedness as the lying in one spot for fifteen years-ness that'll change your looks.

― f--gg (gcannon), Friday, 1 April 2005 02:56 (nineteen years ago) link

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/050404ta_talk_hertzberg

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 1 April 2005 03:02 (nineteen years ago) link

No, lying in one spot is definitely a big part of it--but my own personal experience isn't with someone as bad off as Terri Schiavo was, someone who can still walk around and speak but is severely brain damaged. And looking at an old picture of him versus a current one, you'd hardly know they were the same person. It's weird.

― Allyzay Subservient 50s-Type (allyzay), Friday, 1 April 2005 03:03 (nineteen years ago) link

I've known two people with brain cancer, and their faces completely changed. I don't know if it was a loss of muscle control or swelling/retaining fluid.. (..which I know is not the same as brain damage, but...) The change in appearance is unsettling in many ways ...

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 1 April 2005 03:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Anything hypothetical, blameworthy, or without agency can be subject to any form of humor possible.

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Friday, 1 April 2005 03:39 (nineteen years ago) link

And it's even funnier if you breaks those rules. Cause that's what humor is, right

― Dan I. (Dan I.), Friday, 1 April 2005 03:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Cause that's what humor is, right

right.

― kate/thank you friendly cloud (papa november), Friday, 1 April 2005 03:43 (nineteen years ago) link

anybody wanna hear some Challenger jokes? how about Waco ones?

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 04:35 (nineteen years ago) link

There's already a thread for that.

― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Friday, 1 April 2005 04:36 (nineteen years ago) link

even though they happened pre-internet?

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 04:37 (nineteen years ago) link

This is a thread for sick non pc, possibly offensive jokes

― sunburned and snowblind (kenan), Friday, 1 April 2005 04:39 (nineteen years ago) link

The whole situation was so absurd, it was rather hard not to laugh about. Though it also reminded me how much I loathe the media, and people in general. Shit like this becomes frontpage news for weeks, but we'll all happily ignore acts of mass genocide in the third world. Boy, was Stalin right.

― AR, Friday, 1 April 2005 04:45 (nineteen years ago) link

the saddest part is that image of her with her mouth open is how she is engrained in everyone's mind, and not the young woman she looked like when she became brain dead...

no shit. I didn't even see any non-braindead pictures of her until after she was dead, and she was a really pretty woman. I wouldn't want to live for decades as a gapmouthed drooler with minimal brain activity. that's not dignity.

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 1 April 2005 04:46 (nineteen years ago) link

Pre-internet, huh?

― bro jackson (he knows) (deangulberry), Friday, 1 April 2005 04:58 (nineteen years ago) link

dude, challenger was '86. unless you were working at darpa, you didn't have no net.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 04:59 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't even remember 1986 since it was before the internet.

― bro jackson (he knows) (deangulberry), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:03 (nineteen years ago) link

i remember it well. it sucked.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:04 (nineteen years ago) link

Predictable.

― bro jackson (he knows) (deangulberry), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:05 (nineteen years ago) link

dude like you had fun when you were 11.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:09 (nineteen years ago) link

http://images.art.com/images/products/large/10103000/10103720.jpg

― bro jackson (he knows) (deangulberry), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:12 (nineteen years ago) link

i have a very hard time dealing with death, and black humor is one of the few ways i can emotionally handle it

― kingfish van pickles (Kingfish), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:13 (nineteen years ago) link

i've never really been a twins fan. i don't hate on them, but never been a huge fan.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:13 (nineteen years ago) link

I probably shouldn't have posted a pic that you can easily fit Terri's head into. (XP black humor)

― bro jackson (he knows) (deangulberry), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:13 (nineteen years ago) link

kirby can't see very well, but he ain't brain dead.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:16 (nineteen years ago) link

if she'd been married to kirby this whole thing would've been over a long time ago.

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:31 (nineteen years ago) link

PuckThePolice, indeed.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:36 (nineteen years ago) link

HOW COME PEOPLE THINK IT'S ACCEPTABLE TO MAKE FUN OF KIRBY PUCKETT?

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:38 (nineteen years ago) link

Remy OTM

― amon (eman), Friday, 1 April 2005 05:52 (nineteen years ago) link

so, like, when Jerry Falwell finally snuffs it, we can unload full tilt on his corpse, right?

― kingfish van pickles (Kingfish), Friday, 1 April 2005 06:04 (nineteen years ago) link

survey says...YES!

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 1 April 2005 06:09 (nineteen years ago) link

Forbidden
The requested URL /@HH!22!37!EE3C8A3C019E/TamWarner/hostshalloffame/scrapbookFiles/postedD16.jpg is inaccessible.

― kingfish van pickles (Kingfish), Friday, 1 April 2005 06:10 (nineteen years ago) link

The impulse was obviously a reaction to the cynical appropriation of "Terri" for assorted political and religious ends -- she wasn't a person in that context, she was a symbol, the same way the same crowd uses fetuses. I didn't like the jokes, but I understand that they weren't about Theresa Marie Schiavo the person who lived a real life, they were about Terri the symbol. I don't know how that stacks up morally -- if it makes it "OK" in some sense -- but I think it's kind of inevitable.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Friday, 1 April 2005 06:12 (nineteen years ago) link

o god stence thank you for reminding me of that site

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 1 April 2005 06:17 (nineteen years ago) link

You guys are assholes, I'm gonna go play in the Neagro Leagues.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 06:19 (nineteen years ago) link

tears, streaming down my face

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 1 April 2005 06:25 (nineteen years ago) link

omg there's one where darryl strawberry imitates the crackhead from gta: san andreas

― j blount (papa la bas), Friday, 1 April 2005 06:27 (nineteen years ago) link

Skipping 139 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

making fun of my facism is NOT FUNNY!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 1 April 2005 20:36 (nineteen years ago) link

esp. since you're jewish.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 1 April 2005 20:39 (nineteen years ago) link

The thing was that you left NO room for any other type of humor, and when confronted with humor that didn't fit into your theory, you tried to awkwardly shoehorn it in.

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 1 April 2005 20:40 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't think so. I mean the Seinfeld "what's up with toothpaste" thing is so clearly a combination of absurdism ("who gets wound up about toothpaste?") and his suffering ("haha! look how wound up he is about toothpaste!") I didn't feel the need to elaborate very far. As far as the Carlin stuff goes, no one gave me any specific reference points as to his material, so I just kinda jokingly played along. Sorry if I didn't make these points too clearly.

As for the "pissing in my chicken" thing - some people WOULD find it funny (ever seen a Farrelly Bros movie? A South Park episode? TV Funhouse?), and it would be funny because of my reaction to it/how I dealt with suffering the humiliation, etc. Would I personally be laughing? No, obviously not, but that's because it would be happening to ME and not someone ELSE (ie, no emotional distance).

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 1 April 2005 20:44 (nineteen years ago) link

I feel like I'm explaining 2+2 here...

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 1 April 2005 20:45 (nineteen years ago) link

so, like, with a play on words, we're laughing at the suffering of linguists??

that is not why seinfeld stuff is funny. "it's funny cause it's true" ring a bell?

re: racial jokes, you can't say a particular joke is funny cause racial stereotypes have hurt people. okay you can say that, i'll just think you're full of shit. again "it's funny cause it's true".

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 1 April 2005 20:49 (nineteen years ago) link

no you're explaining 2 +2=4 and adding that that is the only way to obtain a sum of 4.

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 1 April 2005 20:51 (nineteen years ago) link

"that is not why seinfeld stuff is funny. "it's funny cause it's true" ring a bell?"

but this is just an extension of exaggerating the absurdity of whatever daily-life minutiae (in this case toothpaste) is being targeted. "its funny cuz its true because toothpaste really IS fucking bizarre! what's up with that!"

plays on language = nonsense, obviously. See Lewis Carrol. Or Ogden Nash.

(yes, I know I'm being reductionist in my analysis here - but only because complaining about offensive jokes cuts to the heart of why people find anything funny at all.)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 1 April 2005 20:59 (nineteen years ago) link

but the family .. I just can't blame them.
i can, and i do.
an analogy:

Another analogy. Your wife/child is about to die. You can make a pact with the devil to keep her alive. It's a bad choice, but you might be tempted to make it, for the right reason.

They were using ever resource available in a life or death matter. I don't think they made wise choices, but I do think their ultimate intentions were for their daughter and not to be media whores.

But your point is well taken that they did make horrible decisions.

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 1 April 2005 21:00 (nineteen years ago) link

like i said, you can call anything absurd/nonsensical if you want to.

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 1 April 2005 21:01 (nineteen years ago) link

Oops, that's absurd!

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 1 April 2005 21:02 (nineteen years ago) link

that is not why seinfeld stuff is funny. "it's funny cause it's true" ring a bell?

Assuming facts not in evidence. 90% of Seinfeld isn't funny to me.

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 1 April 2005 21:05 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm also mystified that any fan of Seinfeld, and particularly his show, can't register that his entire schtick is based on a) suffering from neuroses and b) being cruel to others.

(and fwiw, I don't find Seinfeld funny at all. But I can see why other people do.)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 1 April 2005 21:06 (nineteen years ago) link

Here's an example of laughing at others' suffering from the Oakland thread:

A friend of ours who owns a house in West Oakland heard gunshots last month and later found out there was a shooting in the house over the street. Then a week later, they heard gunshots in the house NEXT DOOR and it turns out that a 15 year-old girl had witnessed the first shooting, so they broke into her house and shot her through the hand and the foot in retaliation.
He's thinking of selling.

-- Airtube (adamr...) (webmail), April 1st, 2005 1:44 PM. (nordicskilla) (later)

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 1 April 2005 21:07 (nineteen years ago) link

whoa I'm not a fan of Seifeld the stand-up.
his entire schtick is based upon focusing on the banal things in life that most everyone has had experience with, and saying "what's the deal with X" a lot.
but whatever, you're right*. the entire realm of humor can be condensed into two neat little categories.

*but you aren't.

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 1 April 2005 21:11 (nineteen years ago) link

what if i were to do the robot? that's absurd, right? cause we all know humans aren't really robots!!! it doesn't make sense!

― ()ops (()()ps), Friday, 1 April 2005 21:13 (nineteen years ago) link

"his entire schtick is based upon focusing on the banal things in life"

uh, have you SEEN the last episode of Seinfeld, where they all get thrown in jail because they've been such assholes over the duration of the entire show? It's not all observational humor - a lot of times it's about taking those observations to an *ahem* absurd level and making other people (or himself) suffer as a result.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 1 April 2005 21:15 (nineteen years ago) link

"what if i were to do the robot?"

but this is just a premise, not a joke. Now, say you were a porn-chasin, booze-drinkin, pathological liar robot and we're halfway to a TV series...

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 1 April 2005 21:16 (nineteen years ago) link

uh delete that last post, I misread yr post. Doing the robot IS funny!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Friday, 1 April 2005 21:17 (nineteen years ago) link

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/03/31/hospice/story.jpg

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Friday, 1 April 2005 21:18 (nineteen years ago) link

There's this silly meme in life, especially in American life wherein everybody believes that if you stay optimistic, if you pray really hard or say 'I believe in fairies' that everything will turn out OK and Tinkerbell won't die. It's childish and lends itself sickeningly to an American exceptionalism that thinks that over here everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds by eliding or stubbornly ignoring all the suffering and injustice that make us just like the rest of the world. This happened during the Schiavo ordeal and now those people are going to have to find who ~~stabbed us in the back and made us lose the war~~ killed Terri and pillory the fuck out of them even if they have to wipe their asses on the Constitution to do it.

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 1 April 2005 21:25 (nineteen years ago) link

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