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Ian Evans
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 September 2004
Posts: 2433
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 5:04am | IP Logged | 1
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I agree with you Robert. If I did it for a living, I might take it that seriously too. But coming from those who don't, it smacks of overkill
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Joakim Jahlmar
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 10 October 2005
Location: Sweden
Posts: 6080
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 5:58am | IP Logged | 2
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John Mietus wrote:
"Kurt Anderson wrote:
'But I can turn the Red Tornado into an M&M with no negative response whatsoever. '
'I don't know what you're talking about.'"
LOL [literally]
This is actually the first time I looked long enough at your avatar, John, to see what it is. An MM Galactus. Devouring candy planets or what? :)
Must say, I feel a bit ashamed after reading this thread, since I just a couple of minutes ago used Tooth instead of Sabre-Tooth in another thread. Me being cute could now be me being irreverent. *sigh*
L&B,
JJ3 a.k.a. The Mad Swede
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Tom French
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 07 January 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 4154
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 6:18am | IP Logged | 3
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What about calling someone "old friend?" Superheroes do it all the time. That's about as far away from natural as conversation can get...
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132401
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 6:35am | IP Logged | 4
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In another thread, I mentioned NYC Mayor Rudi Guiliani's "war" on so-called "quality of life" crimes. The graffiti vandals, the squeeqie guys, etc. The people who contributed to an overall decline in the day to day life in New York. Guiliani reasoned -- and was proven correct -- that looking the other way when these "small scale" crimes were being committed contributed to a general negative attitude toward and about the city.There is, for me, a parallel in the use of these cutesy-poo, and usually disrespectful short-forms of the character's names. "Supes". "Bats". "Wolvie". "Maggie". They come from, and contribute to, a subtle and insidious mentality in fandom. That whole "Oh, I am so much superior to this foolish comic books I am reading! Please, don't judge me by this trash! I am better than that!" As Guiliani saw with the "quality of life" crimes, it becomes a cumulative effect, and when we throw in a few other factors, equally "small" taken on their own -- well, we end up with the mess the industry is in today, don't we?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132401
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 6:38am | IP Logged | 5
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What about calling someone "old friend?" Superheroes do it all the time. That's about as far away from natural as conversation can get... *** That's the shorthand of serial fiction. There are a set of expressions that inform readers of relationships quickly and easily. They're not meant to represent real conversational idioms anymore that "He hit me with his nerv-o-zapper ray!", or "Bob! Ted! George! Ralph! Herman! Duck!" are supposed to show how people really talk in dangerous situations.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 132401
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 6:43am | IP Logged | 6
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Sometimes it smacks of over-reverence to always call them by there full names. I love seeing nicknames like "Spidey" "web-head" "shell-head" used because it reminds me of all the fun stories I grew up reading.**** To have the characters call each other by nicknames and abbreviations is fine. People do that in "real life", so for, say, the Thing to call Iron Man "Shell Head" is in character for both. When the readers start doing it, however, it creates a subtle and unfortunate undercurrent. Can you really have respect for characters you diminish in this way? Can you expect anyone else to?
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Gary Hart
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 769
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 6:48am | IP Logged | 7
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I agree w all the comments on the 2-sided ness of the nicknames;
In the books, the nicknames seem..OK...coming say from somebody like JJJ, they seem natural even; but I was reminded after just watching X3 this week, on screen mostly they just seem...dumb.
the BEST use of the nicknaming (and this is a stretch, but)...on screen would've been Dr Smith's constantly-changing use of names for the Robot..I know those strictly speaking weren't nicknames- I think he called the "illustratives"..
They older we all get..it seems to me more awkward for a 45 yo to ask, say for ."Spidey #121"...you'll get a look, I'll bet
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Jonathon Thezler
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 September 2006
Posts: 48
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 7:17am | IP Logged | 8
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I'd much rather see respect given for real people (especially those just passed) than fictional characters. What a fucked up priority.
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Aric Shapiro
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 4349
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 7:25am | IP Logged | 9
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Jonathan, respecting people who passed on and characters that are beloved are not mutually exclusive concepts. Neither is being given priority here.
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Francesco Vanagolli
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 03 June 2005
Location: Italy
Posts: 3130
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 7:30am | IP Logged | 10
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I'm with Rafael about the real names, in certain cases. I rarely use the Fantastici Four battle names, preferring using their civilian names. Maybe because they never had secret identities.
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Jonathon Thezler
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 September 2006
Posts: 48
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 7:34am | IP Logged | 11
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It is being given priority Aric.
It's being stated that giving fictional characters nicknames is not on, but on the other hand, let's slather real people for no apparent reason.
Like I said, it's fucked up.
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Matt Linton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 December 2005
Posts: 2022
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| Posted: 06 October 2006 at 7:49am | IP Logged | 12
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The only problem I have with rules for how to refer to characters is that it takes some of the fun out of what should be a fun hobby. Cap, Spidey, and Shulkie have been associated with those characters for such a long time, and many of us learned those names when we learned their real names. Some who use them may do so out of disrespect, but I think most of us do so because, as much as a fictional character can be, we consider them friends, and using nicknames is a friendly thing to do.
That said, I know JB doesn't like it, and it's his forum, so I don't have a problem using the full names here.
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Topic Closed)
