The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[eyeheartawk]

I just looked the shelf with my RPG books and realized that they aren't all together, but instead separated by non-rpg books

Why are you a monster that hates America?

 

[RealAlHazred]

(I'm hesitant to list OneD&D alongside bigotry and war, though. Contrary to what I keep hearing on social media, OneD&D isn't actually, actively killing people.)

Aren't they, though? When it became clear we weren't going to get a full suite of polearms with separate polearm fighting feats and things, it was such a massive betrayal of the legacy of Gary Gygax that I felt pains in my chest. If they end up publishing it without polearms, and without alignments, and without saving throws based on clearcut things like "dragon's breath" or "rods, staves, or wands," I might have a heart attack, and it will all be WotC's fault!

 

[el-remmen]

[This post is in place of my posting in one of those threads I'm amazed to see has reached 50+ pages despite going off the rails on page two]

 

[Gradine]

So this isn't worthy of a full Geek Talk review (and a little far afield) so I though I'd post this here.

I watched John Mulaney's Baby J special on Netflix last night. It was ... actually quite amazing. It's said that the best comics turn personal pain into comedy. I'm not sure that fully believe that, but I do know that this was both incredibly funny and also pretty devastating, and if you've been following Mulaney news, you know he had a lot of material to turn into comedy.

If you like great standup, it's worth your time. (Note- there are discussions of drug abuse and rehab, so if that's a no-go for you, don't watch.)

Not to poopoo on the parade but actually yes definitely to poopoo on the parade...

Last year at a sold-out show at Red Rocks John Mulaney brought out as his completely unannounced opener Dave Chappelle to rant about trans people for fifteen straight minutes and John followed that up by talking about what a great friend Dave is, and has proceeded to refuse to address any of the criticism he faced for springing that on people so I will happily encourage folks to no, please actually don't watch this stand-up special.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Not to poopoo on the parade but actually yes definitely to poopoo on the parade...

Last year at a sold-out show at Red Rocks John Mulaney brought out as his completely unannounced opener Dave Chappelle to rant about trans people for fifteen straight minutes and John followed that up by talking about what a great friend Dave is, and has proceeded to refuse to address any of the criticism he faced for springing that on people so I will happily encourage folks to no, please actually don't watch this stand-up special.

Unfortunately, I have to disagree with you.

I don't want to get too far into the weeds in discussing what is an incredibly complicated and fraught topic, but it's my opinion that when you have events going on (such as Montana) and threats of real harm by an organized and well-funded group of people, this isn't helpful.

I respect your choice- that was not my choice. If you were to say, "Do not watch the Ricky Gervais special because he actually insults people and causes real harm," that's one thing. But at a certain point, I cannot agree with this decision, and feel that it actively harms getting people on-board. YMMV.

 

[Scribe]

Hehe, oops.... I was hoping that would be interpreted as a bit of tongue-in-cheek lightheartedness in the midst of the bleakness.

One would think its tongue in cheek, but...

 

[Gradine]

Unfortunately, I have to disagree with you.

I don't want to get too far into the weeds in discussing what is an incredibly complicated and fraught topic, but it's my opinion that when you have events going on (such as Montana) and threats of real harm by an organized and well-funded group of people, this isn't helpful.

I respect your choice- that was not my choice. If you were to say, "Do not watch the Ricky Gervais special because he actually insults people and causes real harm," that's one thing. But at a certain point, I cannot agree with this decision, and feel that it actively harms getting people on-board. YMMV.

I gotta address this.

Respectfully, anyone whose support for my right to exist is entirely incumbant on whether or not I object to them materially supporting the folks creating the environment in which my right to exist is currently, legally, up for debate, is not somebody I would trust to support me, even conditionally.

I mean, seriously, if a person's reaction to me saying "hey, this person did a really bad transphobic thing, please don't support them" is "well, screw all trans people then, let them rot in camps, I gots to have my jokey jokes", your takeaway is that I should bend over backwards to mollify this person?

Dave Chappelle and the parts of my country I can no longer legally exist in are not completely separate events that exist in a vacuum. There are people making their living and gaining their cultural capital telling outright lies about trans people and the people who think that it's totally okay and eat it up go on to vote for the types of politicians who start dropping twitter threads like "maybe teachers and parents who support their trans children should be executed, discuss" and then turning that into law.

Respectfully, I don't appreciate the tone policing, and the implication that arguing how supporting transphobic creators is bad for us is actually the thing that is for is completely wrong.

Watch what you're gonna watch. Read what you're gonna read. Just don't pretend that it doesn't matter. And definitely don't pretend like you know better than me what's "good for the movement."

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I gotta address this.

Respectfully, anyone whose support for my right to exist is entirely incumbant on whether or not I object to them materially supporting the folks creating the environment in which my right to exist is currently, legally, up for debate, is not somebody I would trust to support me, even conditionally.

I mean, seriously, if a person's reaction to me saying "hey, this person did a really bad transphobic thing, please don't support them" is "well, screw all trans people then, let them rot in camps, I gots to have my jokey jokes", your takeaway is that I should bend over backwards to mollify this person?

Dave Chappelle and the parts of my country I can no longer legally exist in are not completely separate events that exist in a vacuum. There are people making their living and gaining their cultural capital telling outright lies about trans people and the people who think that it's totally okay and eat it up go on to vote for the types of politicians who start dropping twitter threads like "maybe teachers and parents who support their trans children should be executed, discuss" and then turning that into law.

Respectfully, I don't appreciate the tone policing, and the implication that arguing how supporting transphobic creators is bad for us is actually the thing that is for is completely wrong.

Watch what you're gonna watch. Read what you're gonna read. Just don't pretend that it doesn't matter. And definitely don't pretend like you know better than me what's "good for the movement."

Fine.

I said that I didn't want to get into this with you, given that this is something fraught, so I will leave this for everyone else-

Tim Heidecker (of Tim & Eric) has some actually useful thoughts here-

Tim Heidecker Takes on Joe Rogan, Chappelle, and Bad Comedy

As he heads out on his “No More naughty word” tour, Tim Heidecker joins The Last Laugh podcast to look back on his career and share unfiltered thoughts on the state of comedy.

www.thedailybeast.com

Notice the kicker, of course- he's the only comedian to really say anything. The reasons for this is complicated within the standup community. Partly it's because Dave Chappelle, himself, is considered one of the greatest standups of all time. But a bigger reason is that most comedians instinctively understand the issue with policing this type of language- sure, Andrew Dice Clay was "punching down," but then again, so was Eddie Murphy in one of the most renowned standups of all time. And if you think it wasn't difficult to watch Eddie Murphy in Raw, when people were quite literally dying of the things he was making fun of, well I don't know what to tell you. But there's a reason comedians are protective- because even though things are beyond the pale, they understand that is how humor sometimes happens. It doesn't always work. It sometimes goes too far. The Aristocrats.

So I will decline your invitation to boycott everyone who has ever worked with Dave Chappelle and calls him a friend- everyone from David Letterman to Nick Kroll to Norm MacDonald to Adam Sandler to Pete Davidson to Chris Rock to Neal Brennan to Patton Oswalt (yeah, him). We all know Patton Oswalt performed shows with Chappelle, right? And while Oswalt says he disagrees with him, he remains a friend. ... I could keep going, but it's easier to name the comedians that don't have a friendship with Chappelle.

I will respectfully disagree with you, and so that you don't have to worry about my so-called tone-policing, I will ensure that this is never going to be a problem again.

 

[eyeheartawk]

Wasn't I just yesterday condescendingly scolded for "not reading the room" and "trying to get this thread shut down" for drama by posting a boot gif?

Whatever happens, I want it on the record that I was not involved in any of this business, however serious the discussion actually is (which it is).

I just had to point that out, even though it's not helpful in any way.

But then, hey, why would I start being helpful now?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Listen, once they removed real saving throws, I threw in the towel.

At my table, if you're saving versus poison, we hand you a shot glass of bleach. We are serious about our simulationism.