thadocta

Greetings Randy, hope you are well.

I recently read a post in a forum I won't name (for now) from a poster I won't name (not publicly, anyway) that had the following as their sig:

I find this to be way out of line, as it appears to me to be either promoting or florifying domestic violence. If not that far, it seems to trivialise what is an extremely important issue in society today.

I RBP'd the post in question, whilst mentioning that I was not sure that it was something for forum moderators to address, and if not, could they point me in the right direction. This was several days ago, and all of the moderators of that forum have posted since then, so they are online, but am as yet to receive a response.

Any guidance on this issue?

Dave

Randy Petersen

Don't mind the question at all.

Actually, it really was not the intent or a statement by that member at all. The quote you mention is actually a "signature" punch line from a comedian -- Jimmy Carr and if you were to Google the phrase, you'd find it mentioned and quoted elsewhere thousands of times. As you know, it is common for many people, not just those on FlyerTalk to allude to a phrase they have heard before. I think it is safe to say that the member nor myself or other members of FlyerTalk would promote or glorify domestic violence and in fact here in Colorado Springs my wife and I have been active in fundraisers and other programs for a local domestic violence shelter program.

This topic is not new and as always, must be placed in context. For instance, one of the most popular TV shows of all time starred Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden. In that role which fellow cast members won Emmy awards, one of "Ralphs" most infamous lines was "One of these days, Alice. Pow! Right in the kisser!" and of course, Ralph's ever present threat to send Alice to the Moon. Both if viewed outside of the comedy intent of thast show would lead one to believe that it did glorify and even promote domestic violence. Of course in that show, Ralph (Jackie Gleason) never actually did punch Alice out, but the words might give the impression he was going to.

The member graciously changed this signature, though he could have easily simply contributed the source to the signature.

But you and others can see just how difficult it must be for our volunteers to jump on any signature. There's intent, there's reference and there is the act of referring to something that has it roots in the area of comedy, no matter the topic. A judgment call, that's all.

With hundreds of thousands of members, the challenge for us to be aware of local humor, geographic humor (those from outside the South might find the popular "You might be a redneck ..." from Jeff Foxworthy to be insulting. Most find it funny and Mr. Foxworthy has made a mighty fine living off the topic.)

Always bring us your concerns and we'll try to best explain what we see and find out, but on this one, there is absolutely no intent to make popular the topic of domestic violence.

Hope this explanation helps.