I know I'm supposed to be out of state -- in fact, I am out of state -- well, I'm in a state, but it's a different one -- but I digress, and it's only the first sentence of this post. Point is, I chanced to get online and read this discussion and I wanted to throw in my opinion.
There are actually ceremonies, called "Roasts", where the entire point is for people to get up on stage and lampoon, mock, and otherwise poke fun at the guest of honor. You may consider yourself quite lucky if you have such a ceremony held in your honor. It means you have a lot of friends, and it means they are such good friends that (a) they know you well enough to do few minutes of stand-up about you, and (b) they know your friendship is strong enough that it won't be weakened by such mocking.
We've been making fun of each other here for almost as long as the Strip Creator has been around. The only rule in Comic Contest #6 was "make fun of wirthling". In Comic Cup 1, LadyJ and RanmaX also had to make strips that poked fun at each other. They did well with that rule despite the fact that (as far as I know) they knew nothing about each other. Neither took offense because they knew none was intended.
Refusing to take a few friendly jabs at a fellow comedian on the grounds that you have too much respect for them is at the very least disingenuous and inconsistent with common practices in our society.
I hope no one really thinks that we regulars have no respect for each other just because we make fun of each other. I have a lot of respect for most of the people on this site, I think they're damn funny and I wouldn't want them to leave, but I wouldn't hesitate to make jokes about them, and you know why? Because it's fucking funny, that's why. And because it's a good-natured gesture between colleagues. Even when I make jokes about crabby, I don't mean for them to be truly offensive. If I thought they would be, I wouldn't do it. This really isn't the forum for it.
And if someone else chose to joke about me, well, if I couldn't take that, then I probably don't belong at a web site like this one. In fact, if Drexle wants to save this rule for my next round, I say he's welcome to. I'll give that bastard kaufman what for! (That's a touch of Humor, you see, because I like kaufman and think he's very funny, and he's on my favorite authors list and all.)
I should also point out that the rules do not say "make a comic about what a pissant Spankling is". The contestants are not expected to know anything about their opponents, or to make strips that are personal to them. The names "Spankling" and "NastyPope" could just as easily be exchanged with any of our names, or with names like "President Bush" or "Jay Leno". The spirit of the rule, as I interpret it, is "make a comic that lambasts somebody, and since you're in a competition here, that somebody might as well be your opponent". Sounds like some harmless fun to me.
That said... Spankling's point about safe words is very valid. And I disagree with LadyJ that we shouldn't allow rules to be changed because a contestant doesn't like them. I think that's an excellent reason to change the rules. Making these strips isn't a homework assignment, it's a bit of fun. If one of the two contestants who has to play by the rules has ethical issues with them, I think it's reasonable and appropriate for the moderator to revise them to accomodate that. If a contest is unpleasant for its participants, then why are we holding it? And why should we expect anyone to take part in it?
In short:
(1) If anyone has a serious objection to a rule, they have every right to expect that the rest of us will respect and accomodate that objection.
(2) If anyone thinks that making fun of someone is a sign that you don't like or respect that person, lighten up. And look around you.
I'm going to go back to being out of state now.
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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!
