From the department of "You have *got* to be kidding me".

[ladyofleithian]

Got this from the grapevine and oh good sweet Lord, *no*. You know, there's satirizing your fandom, and then there's being a complete douchebag about it.

Just to give people the rundown of what happened -- basically, at Celebration VI, most people were hanging out, having fun, not really knowing that their pictures were going to be put into use later for a slideshow -- which wouldn't be that bad if not for the fact that the slideshow in question made a point of personally insulting them. People in the slideshow included members of the 501st, a non-profit charity organization that's helped Local10, the Floridian newsstation who covered the slideshow, in the past. GeekFemme covered some of the more offensive comments here. The ones that really make me angry are the less-than-subtle and less-than-witty comments regarding the men at the convention being unable to get dates, as well as insulting kids (yes, not even kids are safe). Not to mention Local10 aired it under the category of "News". Tell me, Local10 -- why did you feel the need to put mocking STAR WARS fans under the category of news? Was it a really slow news day? /sarcasm.It would be one thing to put positive coverage of Celebration VI under news, but the fact that they covered that slideshow is, to say the least, puzzling.

Second of all, cons like Celebration VI are supposed to be a safe haven for STAR WARS fans. It doesn't matter who you are; as long as you love STAR WARS, you're always welcome there. Something like this is another level of unacceptable -- no one has the right to harass anyone and make them feel unsafe, especially a local news station. I mean, these are professionals and (hopefully) adults. They should know better.

Third of all, the disclaimer in the slideshow that the person who made it genuinely loves STAR WARS. Then why are you mocking your fellow fans as losers who can't get dates? And treating other people at the convention as "freaks", basically? I'm not pulling the true fan card here; honestly, I am curious as to why the slideshow was necessary. Because honestly, if you're going to mock your fellow nerds at a convention devoted to celebrating STAR WARS, you have no place here.

Finally, there's the fact that when Local10 was called out on what they did, they posted a rather lame apology, then proceeded to out the slideshow back up, as well as delete comments, saying they had apologized to the best of their ability. Honestly, the best they could have done was swallow their pride and genuinely admit they made a mistake, but their so-called apology mostly boiled down to "sorry if you got offended" instead of "we're really sorry we did it" (as I recall). The worst part about all this is that Local10 has been against cyberbullying in the past, and considering that it was also on their Facebook page, yes, I think that would indeed qualify as cyberbullying. I can't help but wonder what they're trying to accomplish here.



And those are my two Republic credits on the matter. Sorry I ranted/overreacted -- it just really made me angry when I heard about it. Fortunately, there is a petition to fight back against Local10, in a sense: http://www.change.org/petitions/wplg-local-10-miami-fl-star-wars-fans-deserve-a-formal-public-apology. Go there and sign if you can. For human decency's sake. May the Force be with you.

Comments

[pwalkeri.livejournal.com]

People are only against cyberbullying insofar that it makes them sound like a good person.

That is really awful. :(

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

I know. *Hugs*

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

Looks like an update is issued - the slideshow is gone according to the Wired.com story. I doubt there will be an apology, but such things are typical where the internet is concerned.

Crap like this makes news these days, but this news station's lack of journalistic integrity will bite them in the ass, no question. There's a corner being turned on the professional level where the insiders are getting disgusted with their own profession these days. It's got a long way to go, but at least there are steps being taken again.

Then again, there's a reason daytime TV is so popular too - people love a good train wreck when it's not happening to them, hence the old adage "If it bleeds, it leads." Having been taught by an old school newshound, I watch this sort of thing very carefully.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

So they started it up just to get attention, you're saying. *sighs* That's just holy mother of depressing on so many levels.

Seriously, what's Huttese for "I don't want to live on this planet anymore"? 'Cause I could stand to learn it. #Rhetorical.

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

I hear ya. Unfortunately, all journalism critiques aside, Star Wars is link bait, and the entire point of any website is to generate hits. How do you think Lucas bashing got so popular? A couple sites got big doing that sort of thing, and anyone with a geek site followed the pattern. That's why I try to run with some integrity on our site in that regard, to set a new paradigm.

Trigger warning for homophobic content.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Ah. Makes sense. I think the other sad thing is that standing up for Lucas these days...you might as well paint a big red target on your chest. For example, I know one guy retweeted another guy's statement about liking the Ewok dance number in ROTJ just to taunt him. Same guy who retweeted also told Lucas to, and I quote, "get [his] cock out of my childhood's ass." (God, even typing it makes me feel dirty) In response to, of all things, a STAR WARS/CARS crossover-ish thing if I recall correctly: http://www.blast-o-rama.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Star-Wars-Cars-3.jpg. Seriously, it's one thing to dislike something Lucas puts out; it's another to be a homophobic asshole for the sake of being a homophobic asshole. (And can we just retire the "raped my childhood" thing? It's really not funny in the slightest)

But I digress. I know what you mean.

Re: Trigger warning for homophobic content.

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

To quote the late, great Frank Sinatra, "Some people get their kicks stomping on a dream." There's just no figuring that sort of thing.

Re: Trigger warning for homophobic content.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Very well-said, Mr. Sinatra. Very well-said.

Re: Trigger warning for homophobic content.

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

Nobody says it like Frank. It's a great song.

http://youtu.be/wtE3Gg_x4Ls

Re: Trigger warning for homophobic content.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Ooh, nice! :D I know my mom might have listened to Frank Sinatra once or twice, but this is really cool. :)

Re: Trigger warning for homophobic content.

[forcewatcher.livejournal.com]

Isn't it? Frank was violent as hell, intolerant of incompetence, and was probably only truly genuine to who he could be when he was behind the mic. If you like that, you might also look up Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. Love me some Rat Pack.

Re: Trigger warning for homophobic content.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

*Makes note to do so*

[girlofavalon.livejournal.com]

You know what's more aggravating about this sort of thing? It's that you never - NEVER - see sports fans who paint themselves all over with their team colours to go to the stadium and tend to be just obnoxious being mocked about their obsession. It's considered normal, while folk like us are "freaks".

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I know. :( *Sighs* *Hugs* It's so fucking unfair. :(

[girlofavalon.livejournal.com]

It's not just in the media. You don't need to go too far to come across an unfair deal of discrimination against geeks in real life interactions. :(

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Yeah. *sighs* I hope this'll serve as a wake-up call to stop the stereotypes, but I doubt it. :/

[hikarific.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with all of the complaints about the news station deleting comments, etc.

Without having seen the slideshow I can't comment on its original offensiveness... I only saw one picture and one comment that someone had taken a screenshot of. It wasn't very funny. But it also seemed more like it was just someone trying and failing miserably to be humorous, someone who has no talent for humor and maybe really did consider himself a Star Wars fan without being much of an active member of the fandom. I'd be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, I think, after seeing the apology... it just kind of seems like it's a kid without much of a gift with words.

I'd have to see the comments to know whether I would personally find them offensive or not. I've never cosplayed any SW character... but I guess I'd be offended if someone posted pictures of me in my Rocky Horror costume making fun of me weight or height or something... not so much if it was a lame joke about a Magenta with runny mascara eating at Denny's at 5 AM... it would totally depend on the contents. Sometimes it's fun to laugh at yourself and your own fandom... maybe this guy thought he was doing that, and just wasn't doing it well.

It sounds like his company was completely out of line with their response though, no matter what his individual intentions were.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Good point. Very good point. *sighs* I guess it's just...there's a certain line between affectionate ribbing and being a jerk, and that guy crossed it. But yeah...maybe it was the case. I hope.

[kinofsimon.livejournal.com]

That's pretty shitty. Those assholes should be ashamed of themselves. Its not very often that a News Station is "that" guy at a party [unless its Fox News, but they're so far gone one can't even place them on the sanity scale anymore].

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Seriously!

[veronicaprof.livejournal.com]

Sadly, what Local10 did is not even unusual -- it was much worse years ago when our local TV stations always showed up to film/photograph/interview the seemingly weirdest, most socially maladjusted fen at any nearby Sci-Fi convention. I think it's a way for people to feel superior to others, and it's kind of akin to the homophobic strategy TV film crews used to employ routinely whenever anything involving gay activism or gay rights came up on television -- film the most outre-looking people they could find, and the most overtly in-you-face same-sex PDA they could find. Sigh.

It's a way of saying, "Well, I may not be perfect," or "I may be a geek too," but "Look at *these* weirdos!" It's so immature and rude.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

I know, right? Seriously. :(