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My 2p on the Jonathan Ross/Hugos furore
Mar. 6th, 2014 08:42 amNot that I'm particularly involved in awards or fandom, but...
Yes, I get that Ross is a long time sci fi fan. Yes, I get that in himself he's probably a good guy.
But he's a big deal in the portion of the media world that revolves around the idea that being mean to people is big, clever and funny, with no thoughts to the fact that these are real people with feelings. That makes impressionable young (and not so young) people think that being cruel to others is Just Okay. Internet trolls? Totally a related phenomenon. So in other words, he's part of what wrong with - well, everything.
So I don't care that Neil Gaiman is all butthurt that his best mate was the subject of a Twitter storm. It doesn't matter that Ross wouldn't have made fun of sci fi nerds or the Hugos or the content... he makes a damn good living out of treating people with less than respect, so I'm not sad that he's stepped down.
Yes, I get that Ross is a long time sci fi fan. Yes, I get that in himself he's probably a good guy.
But he's a big deal in the portion of the media world that revolves around the idea that being mean to people is big, clever and funny, with no thoughts to the fact that these are real people with feelings. That makes impressionable young (and not so young) people think that being cruel to others is Just Okay. Internet trolls? Totally a related phenomenon. So in other words, he's part of what wrong with - well, everything.
So I don't care that Neil Gaiman is all butthurt that his best mate was the subject of a Twitter storm. It doesn't matter that Ross wouldn't have made fun of sci fi nerds or the Hugos or the content... he makes a damn good living out of treating people with less than respect, so I'm not sad that he's stepped down.
