Henri Cartier-Bresson in the 21st Century

CWyatt · 05-13-2012, 07:18 PM

That's right, he has become an internet meme.

Can't decide whether it's funny or terrible.

Brooke Meyer · 05-13-2012, 08:01 PM

Originally posted by CWyatt

That's right, he has become an internet meme.

Can't decide whether it's funny or terrible.

Terrible. It isn't funny, it is coarsely mean spirited and worse, it uses children as a vehicle.

CWyatt · 05-13-2012, 08:06 PM

I should have been clearer, I didn't make this. I mean laughing at the ridiculousness of using HCB for use in something that as far as I know began with cat photos. Not at any specific sexist/exploitative idea you may get. This wasn't at all about content as such, but the reappropriation of an HCB image in the internet era.

Brooke Meyer · 05-13-2012, 11:44 PM

Originally posted by CWyatt

I should have been clearer, I didn't make this. I mean laughing at the ridiculousness of using HCB for use in something that as far as I know began with cat photos. Not at any specific sexist/exploitative idea you may get. This wasn't at all about content as such, but the reappropriation of an HCB image in the internet era.

I know you didn't make this and I understand the potential fun of using HCB in re appropriation, like a mustache on the Mona Lisa. The content is however, unavoidably awful. Most humor is based on surprise. Juxtaposition of dissimilar things is as old as Mutt and Jeff and Laurel and Hardy. The Internet offers wonderful opportunity to learn and discover and share. Just like any highway, information or asphalt, there are careless, thoughtless, mean spirited users. There aren't enough cops to manage either. If the majority of users don't cooperate and act well, it stops working just as if everyone ignored Stop Signs and Lane Markers.

I understand your idea, I just wish it used a different example. Sending it along implies it's okay to send along. I photograph a lot of kids that aren't mine but in way, they all are.

CWyatt · 05-14-2012, 01:21 AM

No, I really think you are picking up the wrong idea. Sending it along does not imply it's OK to 'send it along' (as if that means it's agreeable), it's still just an example. And I'm not talking about 'the potential fun', I'm talking about how things are actually used, whether they're controlled by information police (?) or not.

Well this has lost the point.

thoughton · 05-14-2012, 01:55 AM - **1 Like**

Personally I think that is pretty funny in a guilty pleasure sort of way. The words are completely misogynistic, of course, although the contrast between the 'ghetto speak' and the imagined behaviour of a boy from the 30s is part of the humour.

I don't see the problem with appropriating an HCB image for this. The images are never going to be used with permission, so it doesn't seem to make a difference if they nicked HCB's or someone else's.

It would be interesting to know if the author knew whose photo it was.

causey · 05-14-2012, 05:07 AM

Originally posted by thoughton

Personally I think that is pretty funny in a guilty pleasure sort of way. The words are completely misogynistic, of course, although the contrast between the 'ghetto speak' and the imagined behaviour of a boy from the 30s is part of the humour.

I don't see the problem with appropriating an HCB image for this. The images are never going to be used with permission, so it doesn't seem to make a difference if they nicked HCB's or someone else's.

It would be interesting to know if the author knew whose photo it was.

+1
Funny.

RioRico · 05-14-2012, 08:45 AM - **2 Likes**

It's funny. It's obscene; that's why it's funny. Funniness isn't nice. Funniness leers, drools, hurts, pisses-off, slashes, humiliates. Welcome to humanity.

DeadJohn · 05-14-2012, 09:24 AM

Originally posted by Brooke Meyer

Terrible. It isn't funny, it is coarsely mean spirited and worse, it uses children as a vehicle.

I don't get the children angle. Children are not being ridiculed or exploited in the photo nor in the caption. Is every photo or joke that includes a child terrible?

Brooke Meyer · 05-14-2012, 01:43 PM

Originally posted by RioRico

It's funny. It's obscene; that's why it's funny. Funniness isn't nice. Funniness leers, drools, hurts, pisses-off, slashes, humiliates. Welcome to humanity.

Humor, aka funny, isn't a synonym for hurts or causes pain or making angry or humiliates. Those are all things caused by bullies, not humorists. Unfortunately, you are correct in that it is a common human experience. We have 24x7 televised shouting matches where people are paid to hurt, make angry ( aka pisses off), slash and humiliate. When it gets out of hand, people say "Oh it was only a joke". It coarsens and lessens us all.

Brooke Meyer · 05-14-2012, 01:44 PM

Originally posted by DeadJohn

I don't get the children angle. Children are not being ridiculed or exploited in the photo nor in the caption. Is every photo or joke that includes a child terrible?

Would it be okay with you if your child or grandchild said that?

alohadave · 05-14-2012, 04:32 PM

Am I missing something, or is the OP replying to himself in the first three posts?

RioRico · 05-14-2012, 06:04 PM

Originally posted by Brooke Meyer

Humor, aka funny, isn't a synonym for hurts or causes pain or making angry or humiliates.

Funniness and humor are not the same. Much of what's passed off as 'humor' just isn't funny. And what's funny to an observer likely isn't funny at all to the participant(s). I'll say that one hallmark of funniness is that conscientious observers are unsettled by their reactions -- nervous amusement, at least. Humor can be innocuous. Funniness often hurts.

JinDesu · 05-14-2012, 06:06 PM

Originally posted by alohadave

Am I missing something, or is the OP replying to himself in the first three posts?

Several posts have been removed.

DeadJohn · 05-14-2012, 06:53 PM

Originally posted by Brooke Meyer

Would it be okay with you if your child or grandchild said that?

To directly answer your question, it depends on the context. Something offensive in one context can be hilarious in another context. No, my child should not be saying things like that in formal settings such as school and church. If they're old enough to understand that the word "bitches" is often vulgar and have developed the language and social skills to know how different words can be used in different settings, then I'm okay with a joke in the proper setting.

Anyway, a caption added to a photo doesn't mean the subject of the photo actually spoke those words. At least I hope so ... or the prevalence of lolcat photos means my cats need a speech therapist to work on their language skills.

My only concern with that edited photo would be if the child was easily recognizable. I don't like the idea of innocent people going about their lives being turned into internet memes. In this case, though, I strongly suspect that child has aged a little since the photo was taken so it's no longer a concern.

05-13-2012, 07:18 PM	#1
CWyatt Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,291	Henri Cartier-Bresson in the 21st Century That's right, he has become an internet meme. Can't decide whether it's funny or terrible.

05-13-2012, 08:06 PM	#3
CWyatt Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,291 Original Poster	I should have been clearer, I didn't make this. I mean laughing at the ridiculousness of using HCB for use in something that as far as I know began with cat photos. Not at any specific sexist/exploitative idea you may get. This wasn't at all about content as such, but the reappropriation of an HCB image in the internet era. Last edited by CWyatt; 05-13-2012 at 08:17 PM.

05-14-2012, 01:21 AM	#5
CWyatt Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,291 Original Poster	No, I really think you are picking up the wrong idea. Sending it along does not imply it's OK to 'send it along' (as if that means it's agreeable), it's still just an example. And I'm not talking about 'the potential fun', I'm talking about how things are actually used, whether they're controlled by information police (?) or not. Well this has lost the point. Last edited by CWyatt; 05-14-2012 at 01:31 AM.

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05-13-2012, 08:01 PM	#2
Brooke Meyer Guest	Originally posted by CWyatt That's right, he has become an internet meme. Can't decide whether it's funny or terrible. Terrible. It isn't funny, it is coarsely mean spirited and worse, it uses children as a vehicle.

05-13-2012, 11:44 PM	#4
Brooke Meyer Guest	Originally posted by CWyatt I should have been clearer, I didn't make this. I mean laughing at the ridiculousness of using HCB for use in something that as far as I know began with cat photos. Not at any specific sexist/exploitative idea you may get. This wasn't at all about content as such, but the reappropriation of an HCB image in the internet era. I know you didn't make this and I understand the potential fun of using HCB in re appropriation, like a mustache on the Mona Lisa. The content is however, unavoidably awful. Most humor is based on surprise. Juxtaposition of dissimilar things is as old as Mutt and Jeff and Laurel and Hardy. The Internet offers wonderful opportunity to learn and discover and share. Just like any highway, information or asphalt, there are careless, thoughtless, mean spirited users. There aren't enough cops to manage either. If the majority of users don't cooperate and act well, it stops working just as if everyone ignored Stop Signs and Lane Markers. I understand your idea, I just wish it used a different example. Sending it along implies it's okay to send along. I photograph a lot of kids that aren't mine but in way, they all are.

05-14-2012, 01:55 AM - 1 Like	#6
thoughton Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Saffron Walden, Essex Photos: Gallery Posts: 362	Personally I think that is pretty funny in a guilty pleasure sort of way. The words are completely misogynistic, of course, although the contrast between the 'ghetto speak' and the imagined behaviour of a boy from the 30s is part of the humour. I don't see the problem with appropriating an HCB image for this. The images are never going to be used with permission, so it doesn't seem to make a difference if they nicked HCB's or someone else's. It would be interesting to know if the author knew whose photo it was.

05-14-2012, 05:07 AM	#7
causey Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Arlington, VA Photos: Albums Posts: 3,757	Originally posted by thoughton Personally I think that is pretty funny in a guilty pleasure sort of way. The words are completely misogynistic, of course, although the contrast between the 'ghetto speak' and the imagined behaviour of a boy from the 30s is part of the humour. I don't see the problem with appropriating an HCB image for this. The images are never going to be used with permission, so it doesn't seem to make a difference if they nicked HCB's or someone else's. It would be interesting to know if the author knew whose photo it was. +1 Funny.

05-14-2012, 08:45 AM - 2 Likes	#8
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	It's funny. It's obscene; that's why it's funny. Funniness isn't nice. Funniness leers, drools, hurts, pisses-off, slashes, humiliates. Welcome to humanity.

05-14-2012, 09:24 AM	#9
DeadJohn Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: New York Posts: 4,833	Originally posted by Brooke Meyer Terrible. It isn't funny, it is coarsely mean spirited and worse, it uses children as a vehicle. I don't get the children angle. Children are not being ridiculed or exploited in the photo nor in the caption. Is every photo or joke that includes a child terrible?

05-14-2012, 01:43 PM	#10
Brooke Meyer Guest	Originally posted by RioRico It's funny. It's obscene; that's why it's funny. Funniness isn't nice. Funniness leers, drools, hurts, pisses-off, slashes, humiliates. Welcome to humanity. Humor, aka funny, isn't a synonym for hurts or causes pain or making angry or humiliates. Those are all things caused by bullies, not humorists. Unfortunately, you are correct in that it is a common human experience. We have 24x7 televised shouting matches where people are paid to hurt, make angry ( aka pisses off), slash and humiliate. When it gets out of hand, people say "Oh it was only a joke". It coarsens and lessens us all.

05-14-2012, 01:44 PM	#11
Brooke Meyer Guest	Originally posted by DeadJohn I don't get the children angle. Children are not being ridiculed or exploited in the photo nor in the caption. Is every photo or joke that includes a child terrible? Would it be okay with you if your child or grandchild said that?

05-14-2012, 04:32 PM	#12
alohadave Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Quincy, MA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,024	Am I missing something, or is the OP replying to himself in the first three posts?

05-14-2012, 06:04 PM	#13
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	Originally posted by Brooke Meyer Humor, aka funny, isn't a synonym for hurts or causes pain or making angry or humiliates. Funniness and humor are not the same. Much of what's passed off as 'humor' just isn't funny. And what's funny to an observer likely isn't funny at all to the participant(s). I'll say that one hallmark of funniness is that conscientious observers are unsettled by their reactions -- nervous amusement, at least. Humor can be innocuous. Funniness often hurts.

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05-14-2012, 06:06 PM	#14
JinDesu Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: New York City Photos: Gallery Posts: 5,638	Originally posted by alohadave Am I missing something, or is the OP replying to himself in the first three posts? Several posts have been removed.

05-14-2012, 06:53 PM	#15
DeadJohn Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: New York Posts: 4,833	Originally posted by Brooke Meyer Would it be okay with you if your child or grandchild said that? To directly answer your question, it depends on the context. Something offensive in one context can be hilarious in another context. No, my child should not be saying things like that in formal settings such as school and church. If they're old enough to understand that the word "bitches" is often vulgar and have developed the language and social skills to know how different words can be used in different settings, then I'm okay with a joke in the proper setting. Anyway, a caption added to a photo doesn't mean the subject of the photo actually spoke those words. At least I hope so ... or the prevalence of lolcat photos means my cats need a speech therapist to work on their language skills. My only concern with that edited photo would be if the child was easily recognizable. I don't like the idea of innocent people going about their lives being turned into internet memes. In this case, though, I strongly suspect that child has aged a little since the photo was taken so it's no longer a concern.