Smuel's good morning extravaganza

There's a "like" function now, and you can pick your own avatar. Or should I say... profile pic? It's basically facebook.

Good morning.

 

Haven't seen Jojobobo for a while. I guess it is possible to get someone to leave a forum by defending a rapist. Maybe I should stick to uncontroversial topics from now on.

So, who else thinks that "deadnaming" is a dumb concept? I mean, sure, we should try to use their new name, but it's not always possible.

A: Hey, did you hear that Elliot Page has changed his name?
B: To what?
A: Elliot Page.
B: ... Okay, so what was his name before?
A: I can't say.
B: Then I don't know who you're referring to.
A: He was in Inception.
B: Leonardo Di Caprio?
A: No.
B: Tom Hardy?
A: No. He played... uh... I don't remember the character's name.
B: Joseph Gordon-Levitt?
A: No. He was also in Juno.
B: Michael Cera?
A: He played Juno.
B: ... Do you mean Ellen Page?
A: OMG! You transphobe!

When I read articles about how any kind of referencing or acknowledgement of someone's previous name is a micro aggression, they all do this complicated dance around the subject, usually including a photo of Elliot Page and hoping that you'll put two and two together. Come on people, it's not disrespectful to say something like "formerly known as the actress Ellen Page", it's a plain historical fact.

I realise this is only a minor irritant, and that most people reporting on the story are being sensible about it, but what worries me is that kicking up a stink about "deadnaming" seems akin to attempting to rewrite the past. I would not be the least surprised if someone develops a browser extension that automatically replaces instances of "Ellen Page" with "Elliot Page", in the name of tolerance. I expect you've all seen demos of Google Glass's automatic translation software that converts signs and posters into your own language. The next step will be that when you watch Inception, some software will be running that converts the names in the opening credits to what they "ought" to be. And eventually it will be running everywhere by default, at which point a small group of people will effectively be able to rewrite history to whatever they want.

Sure, you'll be able to turn off the historical revisionism feature of your augmented reality brain, but most people won't bother.

Now, slippery slope arguments are definitely one of the least compelling arguments you can possibly make, and I'm clearly extrapolating to an absurd degree, but for the record, I disapprove of the entirely made up scenario depicted above.

Good morning.

 

There's a singer, Mina Caputo, who was born male and doesn't mind being still called Keith by some fans (according to the Metal Encyclopedia)

Good Morning

 

For all we know, Elliot Page doesn't mind people referencing his previous identity either. As usual the most noise is being made by people getting offended on behalf of others.

Good morning.

 

I prefer the sequel - Far from the Madness of Crowds.

Good morning.

 

Well, it's that time of year again where I pretend I want you to have a good Christmas, and you pretend to be appreciative.

Good morning.

 

For me it's that time of the year where I am even more blasphemous than usual

Good morning.

 

Therefore, when they were gathered together, the mod did say unto them,
"Whom of these two fools will ye that I do not ban this day, Barabbah or Smuel?"
And the crowd cried out "Barabbah!"
And again the mods did ask "Be ye totes sure? For Smuel is a pretty cool dude in our opinion."
And the crowd again cried out "Barabbah!"
And the mods were like "Just to be clear, ye all want me to ban Smuel?"
And the crowd cried out "You're supposed to ask us a question to which we can shout 'Barabbah' as the answer!"
For the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should free Barabbah, and destroy Smuel,
Because they were jealous of Smuel's brave stance on social justice topics.
And thus followed two thousand years of religious strife.

Good morning.

 

I just realised the last trick of 2020 is it has 366 days.

Good morning and happy new year.

 

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.......and Good Morning.

 

I feel the same way, old chap.

Good morning.

 

I really need a kebab. Or living in a city where I can buy a kebab.

Good morning.

 

So... you want us to "send kebabs"?

Good morning.

 

Is that a new internet slang?

Good morning.

 

Two mild earthshakes within a month in my area. That's not a good sign.

Good morning.

 

Good morning.