puppetmaker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
puppetmaker) wrote2014-05-21 11:21 am
puppetmaker) wrote2014-05-21 11:21 am
Conventional Wisdom: And Here We Go Again
I grew up in Southern Fandom. I attended a lot of conventions all over the Southeast. There were a couple of conventions that I made a point of going to if I wasn’t hip deep in work and couldn’t get away. One of the downsides of professional theater is that you rarely get any weekend free.
One of the conventions which was on that list was LibertyCon in Chattanooga Tennessee run by Tim “Uncle Timmy” Bolgeo.
Uncle Timmy was (still is to me) one of my science fiction uncles who looked after us young pups at various conventions and made sure that we didn’t get into too much trouble. I remember one time that someone was being rather creepy towards me and I was getting very uncomfortable and Uncle Timmy saw the situation, stepped in, and sent the guy packing. He did that for a lot of people. Before project Back-up and the rest there were my “uncles” who made sure that I had a safe place to run around in and spend time with my fellow fans.
He has been a part of fandom for over 40 years. He has done a lot of charity work over the years. He is a good person with a warm and loving heart.
Now Politically Correct is not a word I would use with Uncle Timmy. He was a collector of bad and rude jokes. It was like a sport to him to see how loud he could make us groan with his new favorite bad joke.
Jason Cordova gives a pretty good summery at his blog here as to what is going on and why.
Basically Uncle Timmy has been uninvited by Archon to be their fan guest of honor for the machinations of one anonymous git who used words serious out of context to paint a very bad picture of Timmy.
It’s Jonathan Ross all over again. I met Mr. Ross and he was nothing but gracious to me and to Peter.
We rail against censorship and talk about the first amendment all the time in fandom. But we have a new form of censorship that is a lot more insidious and it is called political correctness, which can be twisted to such a point that we can’t talk about anything without being informed that we are offending someone. And within fandom this is being use as a weapon to bludgeon some into silence and others out of fandom entirely.
I leave you with a quote from 1776 which pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter Well, in all my years I ain't never heard, seen nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn't be talked about. Hell yeah! I'm for debating anything.
I am grateful for those who are calling this sort of behavior to task.
One of the conventions which was on that list was LibertyCon in Chattanooga Tennessee run by Tim “Uncle Timmy” Bolgeo.
Uncle Timmy was (still is to me) one of my science fiction uncles who looked after us young pups at various conventions and made sure that we didn’t get into too much trouble. I remember one time that someone was being rather creepy towards me and I was getting very uncomfortable and Uncle Timmy saw the situation, stepped in, and sent the guy packing. He did that for a lot of people. Before project Back-up and the rest there were my “uncles” who made sure that I had a safe place to run around in and spend time with my fellow fans.
He has been a part of fandom for over 40 years. He has done a lot of charity work over the years. He is a good person with a warm and loving heart.
Now Politically Correct is not a word I would use with Uncle Timmy. He was a collector of bad and rude jokes. It was like a sport to him to see how loud he could make us groan with his new favorite bad joke.
Jason Cordova gives a pretty good summery at his blog here as to what is going on and why.
Basically Uncle Timmy has been uninvited by Archon to be their fan guest of honor for the machinations of one anonymous git who used words serious out of context to paint a very bad picture of Timmy.
It’s Jonathan Ross all over again. I met Mr. Ross and he was nothing but gracious to me and to Peter.
We rail against censorship and talk about the first amendment all the time in fandom. But we have a new form of censorship that is a lot more insidious and it is called political correctness, which can be twisted to such a point that we can’t talk about anything without being informed that we are offending someone. And within fandom this is being use as a weapon to bludgeon some into silence and others out of fandom entirely.
I leave you with a quote from 1776 which pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter Well, in all my years I ain't never heard, seen nor smelled an issue that was so dangerous it couldn't be talked about. Hell yeah! I'm for debating anything.
I am grateful for those who are calling this sort of behavior to task.
no subject
And when speaking one's mind is legally considered a "hate crime" - we will have become a Fascist State.
no subject
no subject