Big Ears

Do you remember that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer New Year's special where Rudolph has gone searching for the new baby new year. And the moral of the episode seems to be: it's okay if everyone laughs at you because at least you're entertaining them.

What was this doing in my childhood?

On weaving tangled interwebs

I feel like there are strange, difficult edges around some of the conversation about the Amina blogger. Which of these situations are problematic? Is it completely clear where the boundary of problematic-ness is? Are these all examples of plain old deception?

- A blogger makes big news, but is later revealed to have invented just about everything that brought them that attention in the first place

- As above, but the person was motivated by raising awareness about a situation.

- As above, but the person was motivated by seeking a book deal.

- As above, but the person was motivated by the lulz.

- You learn that a sequence of events that you just witnessed, and which engaged you, emotionally, are part of a scripted advertising campaign funded by a large corporation

- A talk radio announcer tries to punk you during a phone call, just for the laughs of their audience

- You learn that an interaction you just took part in involved an actor playing a role (a la Borat), with the intention of making fun of people (say, in a mockumentary)

- The Yes Men impersonate the spokesperson for a large corporation on the evening news, making an announcement that is both socially important but financially ill-advised. The Yes Men are motivated by drawing attention to the issue at the centre of the announcement.

- A media artist such as Joey Skaggs concocts a bogus news story to make the point that the media is really falling down on even the most basic fact-checking.

- You come to realize that a somewhat ridiculous interaction that's taken place around you on the subway car was part of an Improv Everywhere performance.

- You're watching a play, and a member of the audience appears to do something that interrupts the performance, before you realize that the audience member is actually one of the actors.

- The person that you've been flirting with didn't tell you until fairly late in the game that they were in a relationship, but poly.

- You come to realize that the person you've been flirting with might not have been born with the genitals that you assumed.

- You learn that a friend gave you false information to spare your feelings about something.

I chose these situations either because the line between some of them were fuzzy to me, or because I feel like I hear the same concerns used in describing them.