it's like meeting the real Santa. no, wait. I think I'm spelling that wrong.

[hth]

I used to think you had to volunteer to be belittled in Joe Mallozzi's blog, but apparently they're drafting people now.

You know, I really thought about engaging with him (if only to correct the clear misreading of the last quote he puts up there -- I hope it's obvious to all of you that I didn't mean you could ONLY care about people you'd met, only that you were BOUND to do so, while it's often a lot more hit-or-miss with strangers) -- and then I remembered that we're talking about Joe Mallozzi, and that the reason I don't communicate with him *to start with* is that I think he's an asshole who treats the fans foolish enough to play that game like dirt. That hasn't changed, so I can't see where commenting would do me much good.

But I thought I'd let y'all know I was being talked about over there. It's practically like being famous!

Comments

[rhienelleth.livejournal.com]

WTF??

Okay, I lurk here and don't comment much, but this just floored me. First off, I almost never post episode reactions these days, because I just wait to read yours, which usually echo my own feelings, but express them much more eloquently. And though you may occasionally rant about the more ridiculous plotlines/moments/aspects, my impression is you, like me, still enjoy watching this show. Dude, it's an entertaining SF show - how many episodes of Star Trek: Choose Your Incarnation did fandom respond to similarly, yet fandom still loved to watch??

Which makes it all the more baffling to me that someone would go to the bother of snipping excerpts and posting them to Mallozzi's blog. I say again, WTF? And where does this person get off? Dude, come up with your own statements, have some fucking balls. "Marko", whoever you are, have a thought of your own, why don't you?

Which brings me to taking things completely out of context - how can Joe know what you meant when Marko is only quoting specific bits, some of them edited specific bits. Reading your post, I clearly understood what you meant about the Athosians and John and Rodney would have known some of them, and thus ought to have cared a lot more than we were shown about the Athosians' disappearance. Somehow, Joe interpreted that to mean you were saying John and Rodney couldn't care about people they'd never met...um, no, sorry there Joe. I actually feel kind of bad for Joe. He sort of got hit upside the head with these incorrectly presented statements, and has responded to what he (incorrectly) perceives them to have meant in a public forum. Great job again, there Marko!

And finally, we of online journaling, especially in fandom, often use our journals to vent our emotions, whether they be high or low, about our favorite things/shows/whatever. Sure, it's public and anyone on the internets can read and comment if they like. But still, it seems extremely invasive to me for someone to do this. If they wanted to point Joe to your entry (ie linking the entire thing) that would be far different than arbitrarily choosing bits and flinging them at Joe out of context. Especially since this person clearly wanted some sort of validation from Joe that they were 'right' and you (and Marko's poor sister, whoever she may be) were 'wrong'. These are opinions, Marko. We all have them, and no two are exactly alike. Get used to it!

If this had happened to me, I'd be royally pissed at the anonymous "Marko". Hell, I am and it didn't happen to me!

[hth-the-first.livejournal.com]

Heh. Simmer down, now! *g*

I'm not really pissed about any of it, except maybe that last bit where Mallozzi does a half-assed job of making it sound like I don't believe in human compassion -- rotten logic just on the face of it, and honestly kind of hilarious if you actually read the post and were aware that my whole rant was about the lack of basic human compassion the lead characters show toward the Athosians.

Hey, frankly, if Marko wants to drop me a comment and ask *me* why I would say such things about SGA, I'd be glad to tell him. I'd even be on my best behavior -- I'd be like Lewis Black at the Kennedy Center, a thirty "fuck" maxiumum! I *can* engage in constructive debate and criticism...I just wasn't really aiming at it in that particular post. *g* If it had occurred to me I'd really be on the hook for educating the masses, I'd have done a better job of it, I think!

Actually, the whole thing has given me some insight into one of the basic disconnects that I think is happening: when I talk about "colonialism" and "imperialism," I'm not saying that you can't have *affection* toward people beneath you in the power structure, that you can't worry about them and feel obliged to protect them. In fact, I'd argue that's part and parcel of a colonialist attitude -- that urge to be their Great White Saviors. And I'm not sure everyone gets that; I think for some people, "But John saves the natives all the time!" really is an argument that he's *not* a paternalistic colonizer -- it's really proof of his decency, which of course protects him from all criticism, ever. When in reality, OBVIOUSLY, "But I only want the very best for them!" is excactly how imperialists justify everything they do in colonized territory.

Food for thought, you know? If I ever have a chat with Marko, I might lead off with something along those lines.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

It seems some people missed the section on "white man's burden" when they were studying British Imperialism. (Or maybe they missed British Imperialism...) It's hard in the current climate not to be aware of such condescension towards cultures you're riding rough shod over.