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DEAR SIR: You have my apologies for not having responded sooner. Alas, however, due to mysterious problems with the phone company, I have had neither telephone nor Internet access for the past week. Meanwhile, I must warn you of an imminent change of tone in the following post. We have gone somewhat askew of our original topic, into a more generic discussion of the morality of mockery and suchlike. You have, in the opinions you express, struck a very sensitive nerve, and so I must advise you that my tone becomes rather more angry from her on in. There is, however, a reasoning behind my outburst, as you will see. You may, if you feel it necessary, take this thread private. For while I am eager as any man to be heard in my views publicly, we have strayed very far indeed from the intended focus of this Forum. * * * * * "Sarcasm is rude to lots of people. If we could see his face and hear his voice and had known him personally for a little while, more people here would probably just roll their eyes and say "there goes Chris again" or they might just lagh, or overlook it. I don't speak from knowing Chris any better than you do, I'm just speaking from my experience with sarcastic people and my experience with written posts. (All bulletin boards seem to have this problem, but if you put the same people in a phone conference, or better yet in the same room, everyone gets along. Go figure)" This is why I avoid the commodity of saracsm entirely while on-line, and recommend this same course of action. "And as much as I love Cyrano, he is clearly a product of a culture, time, and a philosphy, and the majority of his suffering he brought upon himself." I am forced to disagree. As far as public mockery and abuse goes, he asked for nothing. The romance elemnt of the play is another matter entirely, and irrelevant. "I would posit that the quote you cite exemplifies an attempt to control that which is uncontrollable." It is controllable if people learn to shut their mean-spirited little mouths, as they are obligated to do. "'Permit none else to utter them'? How?" You answer that question yourself below. "And for God's sakes, Why?" Because it HURTS, you inconsiderate little vulgarism! Being mocked, insulted, and laughged at HURTS! It is an assault, and ought to be treated as such (see below). "I am at a loss for a good source quote here...," Probably because none such exists. "...but there is a power greater than the power to laugh at one's self, and that is to let others laugh at you." It will be a cold day in hell before I let that happen, to me or anyone else. I spent all my childhood being laughed at quite cruelly, and I have had quite enough. I have also had quite enough of being told by some heartless twit that soemthing is wrong with me for feeling as I do. "The more enlightened will laugh along with them." No; the bewildered, the cowed, and those afraid to stand up for their rights will laugh along, or pretend to, for fear of reprisal, largely because of the prevalence of opinions such as yours. There is nothing more enlightened than the norm in allowing oneslf to be subjected to malicious indignity for the amusement of others. that opinion is endorsed by only 2 kinds of people: those who tkae great pleasure in making fun of others, and those too cowardly and/or indifferent to be bothered with standing up for themselves or anybody else. They therefore seek to silence the opposition with this vile notion. "(Trust me though, I know how hard that can be ;-))" No, I don't think you do. Nor do you, in particular, care. The fact of pain and humiliation arising from being made a mockery of seems to be entirely beyond your conceptual reach. "Cyrano could back up his statements and his actions with his belligerence and steel, something no longer as acceptable in our culture." And while I'm in no hurry to see random rapier impalements, I must say that this is a change, in principle, for the worse. The lack of freedom to react against the stripping away of one's dignity has left us with no choice save to suffer through endless humiliation with no hope of justice or restitution, and to sublimate and pack away a lifetime of anger. And we wonder why our society is grown so rageful? Without the possibility of reprisal, whether verbal, physical, or legal, has led us to become a spiteful, flippant culture, in which we are allowed to mock, insult, taunt, tease, belittle, and humiliate one another casually, and in which we are told that we are some kind of poor sports if we presume to be hurt by it. I defy such coldness and spite. "I think a softer, more "go with the flow" attitude is more viable and effective in our world today." No, it is merely the outwardly safest. There is a difference between going with the flow and allowing oneself to be flushed down the toilet. And it is foolishness to say that what is widely tolerated is necessarily what is right. "Think what Cyrano could have accomplished if he had made some effort to get along with more people. But the choice was his, and he knew it." Rubbish. He was rejected from the beginning through no fault of his own. He merely forced the world at large to accept the consequences of their actions, and receive in kind the contempt they had treated him with. Once again, the wounded outcast is made to suffer further blows, his very and justifiable anger being used against him most cruelly, through amoral sophistry. My opinion is as follows on the subject of mockery: humor is a *weapon*. I feel qualified to say this, as a person well-known for his sense of humor, apart from his dislike for being humiliated. Humor is a weapon, like a gun or swrod, and I'll not stand still for its inconsiderate use. I do not approve of humorous insults being thrown about casually, any more than I would allow someone to take my A&A Venetian Rapier of the wall and swing it at someone just for fun, at full force, or tkaing potshots at people from their apartment window just for fun with a Weatherby Mark V, and expecting them to take it with a laugh. Humor is a weapon not to be drawn without cause, and to use it is for all intents an purposes a declaration of war. Humor is a viler weapon than many of the more tangible sort. You cannot dodge, parry, or disarm an insult once it is cast at you. I belive, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names are even WORSE." Humor is a weapon reserved only for those uniquely execrable individuals who have so transgressed the boundaries of decency and humanity as to be deseerving of an indefensible and ruthless attack. Well-earned political satire, laughter in the face of true evil (as one who is about to kill you helplessly), or swashbuckling barbs immediately preceding or during a fight to the finsih with some bully, rapist, wife-beater or murderer, are entirely honorable uses of the art. But casual conversation? No.
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