So, for those not in the loop, at Comic-Con 2011 a panel called "Oh, You Sexy Geek" was held. It featured 8 geeky/nerdy girls (Katrina Hill, Bonnie Burton, Adrianne Curry, Clare Grant, Kiala Kazebee, Clare Kramer, Jill Pantozzi and Jennifer K. Stuller) talking about cosplay, female body issues, women in fandom and other topics you don't generally hear discussed from the female point of view. It was fun and serious, often at the same time and featured a guest appearance from Seth Green, delivering an impassioned speech about geekdom. It may have been dominated by a few strong willed members of the panel and not everything followed a coherent path, but I thought it was a great start to what I hope becomes a great dialogue, not just at Comic-Con but online and at other cons.
Many tomes have been written about the specific content, so I won't duplicate that here. Instead, let me discuss the sudden appearance of someone's drunken dad onto the dais. About 40 minutes into the panel, a guy who looked like that dad who's trying to stay hip by spiking and coloring his hair arrived, grabbed a mic and said "I’m here to represent all the guys in this room who want to stick their penis in every woman up here on this panel." Followed by stunned silence and a few smatterings of laughter.
G4's Chris Gore had arrived. I had never heard of the man before that day. I had never even seen G4, but, judging by Chris, it is, apparently, a channel devoted to the ramblings of man-children. I certainly won't judge a whole network by the drunken hallucinations of one host, but it did leave a bad taste in my mouth for G4.
Naturally, opinions of the "joke heard 'round the Con" ranged across the spectrum. Some found it funny, some offensive and some degrading and misogynistic. Me, I thought it was in poor taste and spoke volumes about the man saying it. I was embarrassed that Chris Gore was the man chosen to represent my gender and he acted exactly like the stereotype. (Thank you Seth Green for showing how a "real man" behaves.)
In another context, it might have worked, say in an Andrew Dice Clay type standup show, but not at a panel dedicated to treating women like women and not a piece of meat in a Catwoman costume. However, if the bad attempt at humor were the only thing Chris had done, I wouldn't be writing about it. But, someone pointed me towards Chris Gore's twitter page, where he has been making incoherent and illogical attempts to defend himself. Oddly enough, he has been channeling Sarah Palin. Playing the victim card, blaming others, failing to admit he may have done anything wrong and defining himself as a "real man." So, since it's a Wed night after work and I haven't posted on my blog in a looooong time, I thought I'd spend a few minutes dissecting the twitter ramblings of Chris Gore. Make of it what you will.
Here goes. (His tweets are italicized)
"I find it sad that acting like a real man is perceived as sexist today. It's the pussification/castration of the American male."
Sarah Palin often talks about how "real Americans," which include herself and those with her view of the world, are under attack from some self-imagined threat. In a similar manner, Chris Gore somehow believes that he is "real man" and he is under attack by some self-imagined threat. What is that threat? Tact, maybe? Self-discipline? Not letting every thought pop out of your mouth?
Here's the thing, men do make jokes about screwing women. A lot. However, we generally do it only when other men are around or when with women we know are comfortable with that kind of thing. I'm not saying it's an admirable trait, but it happens. However, most "real men" know that women are also human beings with feelings and emotions who deserve the same level of respect we want and that they can be pretty darn good friends and/or lovers. We don't treat them as pieces of meat who are there solely for our pleasure. So we try not to go up to random groups of strangers and tell them we'd like to f*** them. Even if it is just a joke.
What kind of guy, would go up to women they don't know and ask them to f***, you may ask? The sad, lonely guy in the leisure suit at a dive bar hitting on women with daddy issues. Chris Gore can't seriously be comparing himself to that guy can he? One can almost hear him at home mumbling "must be a lesbian!"
The 2nd sentence about castration is just typical victim-mentality BS. Like with Sarah Palin, the problem is not with what I said, it's your reaction to it. I can't be wrong, so the problem is you.
"It was meant to be funny. A joke. But frankly, who gives a shit?"
This is a tweet I can respect. He acknowledges that there is some controversy, but doesn't really care. In essence, he is standing up for what he said and standing behind it. Too bad it's undermined by his tweeting about how much of a victim he is.
"I find it amusing that I made that much of an impression. All that tells me is that they're into me. And lacking a sense of humor."
Yes, you made an impression. Much like the panelist who lets out a loud, smelly and languishing fart. People will be talking about that for sure.
Note the ego-stroking way he reassures himself that they must be into him, because, obviously, people only comment on things they deeply love. You never hear people talking about earthquakes, famine, disease and zits right on the end of your nose.
And he ends by deflecting the failure of his joke onto the audience. If you've ever heard a talented comedian talk about jokes that don't work, you rarely hear them talk about how the audience didn't have a sense of humor. They have enough confidence in themselves to admit that the audience lets you know what works and what doesn't work. Only hacks will blame the failure of their "brilliant joke" on the audience.
"The room burst out laughing. It was meant to be funny and those in the room "got it." Don't comment if you weren't there."
I was there, so I guess I'm allowed to comment. "Burst out" implies the whole room, which was not the case. It was more a smattering of laughter, some of it the shocked kind that you get when something inappropriate happens and you know you shouldn't laugh, but you do. Most of the room just kind of sat there in stunned silence. What most people "got" was that an asshat had spoken. And remember, Chris Gore, you weren't sitting in the audience, so don't comment.
"After my comments on the Oh You Sexy Geek panel at #sdcc, 25 people said I was funny & helped lighten the oh-so-serious mood."
Yes, I'm sure some people did agree with you. Just perusing online, I've found 25 people that thought you were not funny. Who wins?
"Aren't feminists known for their sense of humor? I never expect 100% of an audience to like what I say. That would be stupid."
Sarah Palin move here. Those that don't agree with you are slapped with a label like liberal, communist or feminist. After all, if we had to acknowledge that those who disagree with you are individuals with a wide range of beliefs, it wouldn't be so easy to dismiss them.
Regarding the second statement, again, this is a comment I can respect. But, then, if you don't expect the audience to 100% like you, then why get upset at those who don't like you? If you want to be able to say whatever you like, then stop giving a crap when people don't agree with you. Stand behind what you say and screw those who don't like it.
Unless of course, you enjoy playing the victim.
"On a serious note, I find it hypocritical a few misinformed & sexually repressed folks feel they can judge our panel"
This is you being serious? Did you take a "sexually repressed" poll or something? Change "sexually repressed" to "socialists" and "panel" to "party" and you've got a Sarah Palin speech.
"Do they not understand satirical humor when they hear it? And Bonnie baby, you were funny!"
Again with the "blame the audience" routine. Every hack comedian, bad actor or horrible writer blames the audience when their work is not accepted and praised for the genius it is. "I'm a genius!! Damn them for not seeing that." It's a lame defense.
"Forgive me for having a sense of humor. Free expression of ideas is something I love about Comic Con."
"Congress may not make laws abridging free speech, but small-minded Americans do it at Comic Con panels apparently. #intolerance"
This is where he really goes off the deep end. He has about as good a grasp of the First Amendment as Sarah Palin does.
Let's recap. People who disagree with you are not abridging YOUR free speech. They are expressing THEIR freedom of speech. That's how it works. Get a helmet and stop crying.
Isn't this stuff journalism 101?
"I can't believe people are still discussing that panel. So much wasted time/energy. Write a book, make a doc or move on."
Read as "Please stop yelling at me."
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So, to sum up, Chris Gore doesn't care what you think, unless you didn't like it, in which case you're a sexless, humorless feminist. But he still doesn't care what you think, except for those 25 people who did like it. Bonnie, baby, you're funny. Chris Gore enjoys having the right to say whatever he likes at Comic-Con, but doesn't believe that anyone else should have that right, especially when it comes to criticizing Chris Gore. If you dare to freely express your ideas about Chris Gore, then you are obviously destroying America. Vote Tea Party.*
On the very minor (infinitesimal, really) chance that Chris Gore comes across this, I'd like to remind him of what a man who thinks he's famous once said. "Forgive me for having a sense of humor. Free expression of ideas is something I love."
*Voting Tea Party is not endorsed by the writer of this blog.
