Is irony dead, or is it just impossible to recognize?

[urbpan]

A friend just sent me a link to a music video, in which a sparkly-eyed, chubby young man with an apprentice mustache and a pink button-down shirt sings a song called "God Hates Fags." He looks into the camera lens with a Borat-like appearance of sincerity, telling us that "to enter heaven there's no back door," "Jesus my savior is the only man for me!" and "bein' gay is nothin' but a choice!" He also speaks quite personally in the song of "fighting his urges," and so on.

It's pretty hard to take seriously, even though the video shows the address of "Love God's Way," an apparently serious anti-gay Christian site. There you can find a list (woefully incomplete) of "bands to watch out for" lest your child be swayed by their messages of gay tolerance (I assume). This list includes bands with known homosexual members: the magnetic fields, judas priest, the village people (not the village people) but also a few surprises for me, such as metallica (I must not be listening closely enough) and motorhead (leather and motorcycles are too close, I guess). Jeopardizing the illusion of seriousness is the inclusion of parenthetical explanations for some of the bands. Next to Ted Nugent is the remark "(loincloth)". Next to Elton John is the clarification "(really gay)". I'm not sure what to make of the question marks bracketing the remark next to Morrissey "(?questionable?)" or how to interpret the listing of George Michael "(Texan)".

The internet is a funny place. In a medium with bonsai kitten, a world where the technology allows Creationists an audience, how can I interpret this stuff? I have to file it in a special place in my head, in a buffer zone where information can sit beside anti-information without detonating.

Why has wikipedia permanently removed Poe's Law?

"Without the use of a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is impossible to make a parody of Fundamentalist Christians that someone won't mistake for the real thing."

Comments

I always found that silence helps to keep me and my kind alive

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Haha! Fighting his urges - brilliant!

Word on the street is that Kirk Hammet (the cute, curly balck haired one) of Metallica is gay. I don't know if it's true.

I'm getting really into Judas Priest lately. They don't really have songs about gay tolerance exactly. They do have some filthy ones about sex though! Here's one of the songs from back when no one knew that Rob Halford was gay. Innocent times...

Killing Machine Lyrics

I never give no answers, I never tell no lies
I never walk a straight line so I never get surprised
I don't ask no favours so I won't get abused
I learned to win when I was young
So I'm never ever gonna lose

They pay me the money and I'll do the job
I got a contract on you
I got a contract, on you

I never ask no questions, I never speak my mind
I always found that silence helps to keep me and my kind alive
I take care of business, It takes care of me
I look after myself and do it well
'cause somebody's always looking for me

They pay me the money and I'll do the job
I got a contract on you
I got a contract on you

What manner of man am I?
A gun, lump sum and then I move on
What manner of man are you?
Stab a friend's back to jump a queue

I do what I do 'cos I can't do nothing better
You do what you do, just defendin' yourself

'cos you ain't got nothin' better to do

I got no place, no name, I'm just a killing machine
I kept the population down, if you know what I mean
I never stop in one place, I move about the cities
Got expensive tastes, but I hasten to add that
I'm the best that there is

They pay me the money and I'll do the job
I got a contract on you
I got a contract on you

I got a contract on you
I got a contract on you

Re: I always found that silence helps to keep me and my kind alive

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Kirk seems so sweet in "Some Kind of Monster." He's the only character in the movie that doesn't come off like a mental case. I hadn't heard a rumor that he's gay (until now) but I kind of like that idea.

Re: I always found that silence helps to keep me and my kind alive

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he's lovely. he was always my favourite but I've loved him even more since Metallica all took a year off to do thier own things and he want off to study art and Eastern philosopy *swoon!*

It seems it is just a rumour though. According the the ever-trustworthy wikipedia he's been married (to girls) twice. Oh well, I still have Mr. Halford to be my gay metal icon!

Re: I always found that silence helps to keep me and my kind alive

[weavingfire.livejournal.com]

Wasn't his wife in that movie though?

It's typical, a guy tries out some eyeliner and all the sudden he's teh Gay.

Re: I always found that silence helps to keep me and my kind alive

[ms-cantrell.livejournal.com]

i saw that video the other day - very nauseating, even if it was meant to be borat-style irony. i really think that some portion of the christian population would happily listen to that guy sing that wretched song (and even watch the video, icky looking as he was), which takes away any possible humor for me.

[teratologist.livejournal.com]

The "youth pastor" in question is apparently a stand-up (or, in some cases, kneel-down) comedian.

I read it in a blog, so it must be true....

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

So when does the trapdoor spring on the unironic homophobic fans?

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Marilyn Manson - dark gay. Hahahahaha!
So I suppose the rest aren't really evil? I'm so confused!

[pipu.livejournal.com]

There was a rumor that Lemmy is bisexual, but it has since been refuted.

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

OK, I'm getting obsessed with that site now. What's wrong with Evenesence that they are on thier list of "safe bands"? I'll be watching out for them alright!

Also they say that Oscar Wilde was a reformed homosexual! HOW DARE THEY! Just because he was landed in jail by his scumbag boyfiend and forced to do years of hard labour and was natural a bit upset by the whole expereince doesn't make him reformed. Hands off our Wilde, fucking fundamentalist arseholes.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

We have to assume that's part of the gag.

[droserary.livejournal.com]

I saw this about a week ago. If it is indeed meant to be a spoof, bravo.

If not, I wondered why Janis Ian, Carol Channing, Liza Minnelli, and Liberace weren't on the list of people to watch out for.



I also noticed Eminem was misspelled Eminmen (Freudian slip?) and that Cyndi Lauper, who does countless benefits for LGBT organizations, was on the "safe" list. I mean, c'mon... "Girls just want to have fun"?


Ah, and if you want to see the discussion for why Poe's Law was deleted the first time around, see the the "articles for deletion" debate. Subsequent deletions were "speedy deleted" because material was simply reposted after the AfD debate.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Liberace's vagina costume is fabulous.

[droserary.livejournal.com]

You know, you and cottonmanifesto aren't the first people to say that. I first saw the picture on the Janis Ian message board under this exact topic. Someone posted the picture and two posts later, someone mentioned it resembled a vagina. Having never seen one myself (and never planning to! kthx), I was perplexed.

Is this some joke I missed out on from long ago? Or did 3 people independent of each other come to the same conclusion?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

No, man, it really looks like a big stylized vulva. He's like a living Georgia O'Keefe painting. It can't be accidental.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

i metaquoted you.

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

that is the most vaginal thing i've seen that's not an actual vulva or a georgia o'keefe painting.

[aemiis-zoo.livejournal.com]

Please tell me that bonsai kitten thing is a joke!

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Okay, but don't tell anyone that the back covers of my zine were fake ads: "Pierce Your Pet! (exotic body modifications for your animal friend)" "Vegetarian Cats (order yours now!)" and "Leche de Mono (Chimpanzee milk marketed for humans)!"

[aemiis-zoo.livejournal.com]

You're an odd duck!

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

Maybe the "texan" comment about Geaorge Michael was referring to the common belief that, "All they got in Texas is steers and queers." I don't think it's true. When I was in Austin I didn't see a single steer.
(That God Hates Fags stuff is a takeoff on that vile Fred Phelps and his homophobic band of pinhead sickos who pickets the funerals of dead US soldiers holding up signs like that. )

[weavingfire.livejournal.com]

Anyone who states that Metallica is gay but isn't sure about Morrissey, their gaydar is wwwwayyy off.

There is no way this is real...I mean the placement of the lyrics (get down on your knees...god doesn't like sodomy?) and even the pink shirt the guy is wearing.

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

I don't know about this guy in particular, but there is a "God Hates Fags" woman, Shirley, who demonstrates with her children at the most inappropriate events to talk about, well, how God hates fags. Her father is a fag-hating "Christian" minister with over a dozen children, and she is, iirc, the only one who will still speak to him. She has appeared on the Howard Stern show numerous times, even though no one there likes her; I suspect she thrives on the confrontation.