Repeat offender: ME
On two separate occasions this week I managed to offend some people strongly on Twitter. In the first case, it was mostly one guy. In the other, quite a few people were upset. …And I mean, right out of the gate, screaming FUCK YOU ASSHOLE -level upset.
Sometime in the near future I hope to have time to parse through the specifics of this, and let my pedantry flag fly. But I’m too busy with work and family right now, and it’s theoretically a holiday, so that has to wait to be done with the care it deserves.
For now, I’ll say: I don’t think even my biggest un-fan would say that my humor, writing, etc. relies mostly on being mean, offensive, and (sorry, this word was tired even 15 years ago) “edgy.” The short version is: it’s never my goal to get attention mostly by being an unrepentant dick, and I don’t any fair person could say that’s what I do — in any aspect of my career, including my years of MST3K / RiffTrax.
But when you’re in the humor and art biz, it is INEVITABLE that you will offend people, maybe many people, over time. And sometimes they have a good case for suggesting that you’re an unrepentant dick, and other times they don’t. A lot of stuff falls in the middle on that unrepentant-dickery continuum, too.
Humor is VERY subjective, and can become very personal. My goal in life is not to make people feel shitty about themselves and the world, unless — perhaps — it’s a person who is making the world a significantly shittier place. Even that type of humor can go sour quickly, in my opinion.
All this is to say: I’m not trying to hurt people. But nobody in comedy can take care of everyone’s feelings, all the time, and function for long. IM - POSSIBLE. And sometimes if a person says: “You hurt me and people like me with that remark,” I think twice, and feel bad about it, and apologize, and resolve to do better in the future.
And sometimes I consider it and think “Sorry, I don’t feel so bad about that. Can’t help you with those feelings.” This is especially true when I think the person has fundamentally misinterpreted the intention or meaning of the joke, Twitter crack, rant on the city bus, etc. I happen to think this was true of BOTH my recent Twitter tussles, but sometimes it also does come down to: “I see this subject differently that you do.” …at which point, there’s nowhere to go but hopefully you can end it civilly. (And while I love Twitter for many things, it’s a terrible place to debate heated issues.)
However! If instead of saying a version of “You hurt me etc. and here’s why etc.”, you come at me guns-a-blazin’ and poo-a-flingin’, and expect me to feel guilty about your feelings..? And be [*shudder*] “educated?” …Well, then we will get nowhere fast. You might feel Internet-powerful for a second (it fades SO fast, kids), but you won’t get much empathy from me. You probably won’t even get my attention for more than a second, because it’ll be easy for me to say: “Unreasonable, poo-flinging jagoff. Blocked.”
Holy crap, this was the SHORT version.
Truthfully, I may or may not have time to post a more substantive piece on this anytime soon. (By substantive, I mean analyzing these two particular experiences this week in their specificity. I am a goddamned pedant, I am not kidding.)
But in the meantime, in the interest of keeping the peace and offending nobody: cute bunny 4 u. (as seen above!)
Happy Independence Day. May you be free of non-cute bunnies, and tyranny!
Bill
************
[UPDATE: one of the first bits of Twitter feedback I got, like a minute after posting this —
“you still don’t get it, and your non-apology doesn’t help.”
Oh, I think I do get it.
So, being clearer: I am not apologizing above.
As for “doesn’t help?” Doesn’t help what, exactly?
Maybe it doesn’t help your feelings of rage and aversion and I HATE YOU ASSHOLE or whatever. But as I tried to say as civilly as possible above, there may be nothing I can do about that. And if you come at me like a jerky, condescending undergrad, I actually don’t want to do anything about it. Sorry, I’m an artsy-fartsy comedy-type, not Gandhi. (Even he would have lost patience with Twitter trolls.)
I may try to parse through the specific Twitter mess in the future if there’s time, because I think it DOES merit more care than Twitter poo-flinging allows, or than I have time for now. If that doesn’t satisfy some Twitter debate-masters, and you unfollow / boycott / etc., knock yourselves out. Announce it to the world, and savor your victory. I accept that so hard it’s not even funny.
But for now, this will have to do. And I reserve the right to wake up tomorrow and say “Eh, it’s not worth it.”]
I think Bill needs to Google “The Tone Argument” to understand why all of this is highly inadequate. But he won’t because he’s not in this to be a better person, just a more successful bigot.
If I’m wrong, I’ll be waiting for the evidence of such. $500 says I won’t get it.
Love how “It’s Comedy” is always the excuse…
Notes
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bannedfroma03 likes this
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withthingsunreal reblogged this from mistahgrundy
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idreamofpunk reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
Man, I’m so far behind...didn’t even know Bill had a tumblr account. I grew up watching...
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diaryofacomicbookgoddess reblogged this from billcorbett
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funkypunkr likes this
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wewillendure likes this
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withthingsunreal likes this
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kotbegemot reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
Oh, please. Don’t pull...tone argument bullshit. When you call someone
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somelikeitlukewarm reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
didn’t read all...but “tranny”...really offensive slur,
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ludovicah reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
Bill, I know you to be a lovely guy, and I watched that whole thing in absolute horror. It’s all about knocking down the...
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ludovicah likes this
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blackcatula likes this
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rwmead reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
This piece is interesting for a number of reasons....situation that caused
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trilies reblogged this from lobst
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brattykitten reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
Bill, do you get why...latest tweet hurt so many people?
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pilotfiveold reblogged this from brucestopherpikewood
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teleporting-tacos likes this
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trollny-stark reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
It’s interesting that you never mention exactly what you did that upset so many
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doodstormer likes this
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swingfox likes this
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shadoestar reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
five year old kid shortening...learn something new every day.
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portcity likes this
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theangryblack reblogged this from ktempest and added:
Love how “It’s Comedy” is always the excuse…
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ajamison likes this
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ktempest reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
I think Bill needs to Google “The Tone Argument” to understand why all of this is highly inadequate. But he won’t...
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lobst reblogged this from thepopoteam and added:
First I find out Mike Nelson is a paranoid Christian conservative, and now this. Fantastic; another of the comedy icons...
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not-fun reblogged this from thepopoteam and added:
yeah i did not see that part and that part is not cool. at all. i trust he won’t make such jokes in the future. but i...
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wallflowerdalek reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
when you’re using words...PEOPLE SCREAM AT US AS THEY KILL US
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thudfactor reblogged this from billcorbett and added:
understanding more convincing...he had not blocked...said he...
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