Should the Show Specific sites be censored?

E

Edmund Blackadder

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I am currently a member on a different Site, known as the City of Angel.
It is a site specificto Angel, hence its name.
A member a few days ago, was forced to remove the quote
"You are a lot smarter than you look. Of course you look like a retard." from his location, because 1 person was offended by the use of the word 'retard'.
Every other poster in that thread have vehemently opposed the decision to get rid of this quote as its from the mouth of Cordelia, to Doyle, which means its an Angel TS quote......

so i ask you......should this have been barred, and if so, if we cannot quote the show in its entirity, whats the point of the site, being that in future any quote could be taken off because on some level it will offend someone?

i would like all people to respond.....and if you are a member of the city of Angel, pop into the 'Little Respect' sticky thread, read all the arguments and comment accordingly.
 
I certainly think that you should be able to quote the show. If anybody is offended by it, they should complain to Joss not somebody who quotes it.

Whether or not the line itself is offending is a different matter. It's not a very nice thing to say and since I myself have very strong feelings for mentally challenged I do feel a bit offended if I think about it, BUT it's something that is being said casually quite often. The TV-show here just mirrors society, which is really what your aim should be then. Course one can argue that TV-show can have a lot of impact on people and thus they have to pay extra attention to this kind of thing, because they can change people's way.

Anyway, that's a discussion for a different place, different time, maybe.
 
OMG they so should have been aloud to quote the show, that is really unfair, if they have a problem they should take it up with Joss, or the network that it aired on but not a fan who is just quoting the show!
 
but, in this specific case, it was not insulting anyone, its a straight, word for word quote from the show.
If the use of it was for getting at someone on the site, then there is an issue being raised, but in this case it was not.
I mean, also look at the changing trend in language.
50 years ago, Idiot was the word for retard, now its so deeply imbedded into our language stream, we don't see it as such

so a further question, if we censor one word, shouldn't we censor them all, being they all at one point had a different meaning to what they have now(i mean words like, Deficient, Idiot, Simple minded).

But again thats still different to teh topic, the point is, its site specific, not aimed at anyone and directly from the mouth of a main cast member.......so is it wrong?
 
If it was very offensive to people then they should've just had that line cut from the episode when it aired. But I agree with Allycat. The show uses phrases that some of us might use. I'm not gonna lie, I have called somebody a retard before. That's not the only line that could be considered offensive in the show. There are a lot of others but people have to realize that it's just a show and the characters will react just like a person will react in real life. Everything is scripted to look realistic. Let's face it, real people go around calling others disrespectful names all the time.
 
I know people on this board who were very sad to have to remove a quote from their sig.. 😉

It all depends. Honestly I guess my opinion is that you should be able to quote anything from the show. Since everyone should know it's a quote, and they should've already seen/heard it on the show. But maybe it's not that simple, I don't know, but I don't think people should have to get offended, eh..
 
I can so relate to that person, when I started out at this board I had one of my favorite quotes as my signature. The one said by Anya to Andrew when he's locked in the bathroom and she complains about him not doing the "normal" teen stuff in there.

I mean it depends, but it is a bit strange that a show that's from a specific age and has certain quotes can't have a board where it's allowed to use the same sorta language.

One thing if you use that kinda language towards other people, but using it for your signature or profile I think should be allowed. Not a big fan of censorship in any form.
 
Hmm. I think as long as it's in context, it shouldn't even be an issue. People need to just chill.

One of the several million reasons I love Joss's stuff is that he's not particularly PC. His shows can potentially offend in so many ways: violence, sexual innuendo, religious issues, and on and on...just because Joss and his writers depict certain behaviors or questionable dialogue doesn't mean they're endorsing it.

The insidious side-effect of (often well-intentioned) PC is that it slowly erodes language, expression, culture...

Yuck. No good.

The flip side is that a sense of absolute linguistic freedom can also erode quality. Writers start writing characters who are cussing up a storm for sensational effect. Just gets to be lame, lazy, generic "edginessâ.
 
is quite ironic. the post-er on CoA that had his location removed is not very well liked by most of the members because of his personal "attacks" on diff members but once this happened, every member who posted in the thread has stuck up for him.....kinda crazy

oh, and to stay on topic...i definitly disagree with the decision and am protesting by posting the quote as MY location
 
JollyApe said:
I can so relate to that person, when I started out at this board I had one of my favorite quotes as my signature. The one said by Anya to Andrew when he's locked in the bathroom and she complains about him not doing the "normal" teen stuff in there.

I mean it depends, but it is a bit strange that a show that's from a specific age and has certain quotes can't have a board where it's allowed to use the same sorta language.

One thing if you use that kinda language towards other people, but using it for your signature or profile I think should be allowed. Not a big fan of censorship in any form.
Click to expand...
Hey that wasn't me 😉 😀
 
I really don't think that the quote should have been censored. If they can say it on the show, then you should be able to use it on a board centered around the show.
 
The site shouldn't definitely censor quotes since it was used as a signature and not towards another member! The one that should have been censored is only John (sorry John) and besides, if you start censoring you should censor the whole Cordelia charachter since she often uses a rude language (not THAT often, but you see my point right?)
 
Nope, there should be no censoring of this sort, in any way, shape or form!

It's a direct, and extremely funny, quote from the very show that the site is dedicated to. In truth there is the potential for every single line of both shows to offend somebody, somewhere.

If i were to join City of Angel and use Angel's line to Buffy from Welcome to the Hellmouth, "Truth is, I thought you'd be taller ...", does that mean anybody who has an issue with being short is going to be able to jump on my back and force me to change the quote?

Sorry, i'm all for taking people's feelings into account and trying my best not to directly insult or hurt anyone personally but you can't censor the use of the English language in general terms. If you start down that slippery path then sooner or later it will get to the point where the written word is outlawed! Then where will we be?
 
hey Al, think you got the backing of the board here! hee hee!!
i don't think in any way, shape or form that this quote should have been censored. yeah, i've had run ins with that certain poster, but his location never bothered me...in fact it made me giggle, remembering when Cordy said it.
i feel that it's wrong that the mods there bent under the pressure and the ultimatum the offended poster put to them. it was wrong to censor it.
 
Well, i just went to the trouble of logging in at CoA (i don't actually post there, but i do have an account so that i can lurk now and again) and i read the thread in question! What a lot of (to ironically quote Spike, just in case anyone is offended, lol) bollocks!

There was absolutely no way that the demands of one poster should have been allowed to make site policy bend to his whim. Had that been my choice then i would have deleted the account in question as he himself had requested because he clearly was trying to get his own way. I do have a relative that is mentally handicapped and the use of the word "retard" has absolutely no negative effect on me at all, especially not in the context of a harmless quote.

"Either do as i say or delete my account?". Pffft!!! Delete his account already!!!

Can't wait to see where this will lead now! I wonder who will be the next poster to demand the mods change something or he/she will leave the board. What a fantastic precedent to set! 🙄
 
thank you Watcher!! it's nice to see that some people agree with us over at COA! the demands this guy made were ridiculous and uncalled for.
i don't post much at COA any more (i spend most of my time here!) but i do lurk a lot, and this really is a load of (more Spike quotage) bollocks!
 
K
killerdwarf
Obviously, you have made a great choice by staying here more!;)
Good job I've never been on that board - the Spike quote in my sig would get me lynched 😉
 
ohhh no, you would have been fine.....unless an English guy read it and was like.....hey......you guys....i don'tlike how he is portraying us English....i want that quote gone.....or i'll kick you in the nuts'

sorry...went southpark there

I have no problemwith the quotes that could offend, being ASKED not to be used against someone,but this quote, on the show specific, used in a profile...thats what boils my blood
I think it absurd that a quote from a main character on the show be treated as such.

If anyone wants to go and add a comment on that un just system.....pm me for the link,if you dont have it
 
Hmm. Did it say exactly that it was a direct quote from the show? Now I'm not saying if I believe it wrong or right, but I'm wondering about the quote. If it said directly that it was from the show, then it's fine. But if didn't say where it was directly quoted from, I could see how people would be offended. Honestly, I have no idea about this quote... don't remember it, don't know who said it, etc. Therefore, if I was taking at face value, I could see how one would be opposed to it.

Not saying my viewpoint, because I'm not really sure, but if somebody knows if it was properly/directly quoted, that would help me out.
 
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