Excuse me- but this post deals with an event that happened a few
weeks ago- the event being the airing of the 'gay sci-fi con' segment
on Comedy Central's 'Daily Show.' I know the more pedantic and trite
among you might say that this is an example of BF (and I in particular)
re-opening an issue that's long past.
Well- yes, and no (more of the latter than the former, but I
digress.) It's not re-opening old wounds, as the issues surrounding
the airing of this segment, as well as the implications for the fandom
at large, were never addressed properly. In fact, I found the
deafening silence that followed in the wake of this media atrocity
almost as infuriating as the segment itself.
Now, truth be told, when I ran a draft of this past the BF rank-and-
file, a few actually objected- they said I was being too heavy-handed,
and one person timidly put forward that I was wrong to be offended by
this segment (I'm still in wonder over that...) Keeping this in mind,
I will make the following statement to placate those within the BF
movement, as well as it's detractors that:
These are MY statements, reflecting MY views. This post, in no way,
reflects the policies nor the agenda of BF, and I am willing to accept
every bit of fallout and inevitable abuse that the stating of pure,
simple fact incurs in these, the most silent and relativist of times.
Begin transmission:
I told you so.
Over two years ago, I posted my embryonic website to the collective
joke known as the internet, with one of its core principles being the
warning that the fandom that I had enjoyed for almost half my life was
in mortal danger. I wrote an essay, entitled 'What Is To Be Done',
lamenting the degenrate elements which had infiltrated our fandom, and
warning of the dire consequences to our fandom, should these elements
continue in their ascendency.
I warned that if the world at large should encounter our fandom
through these elements, the fandom would be irreperably damaged-
tainted as a haven for the sexually degenerate. I warned that the
proliferation of pornography depicted to the world a fandom aberrant
and despicable.
This was followed almost a year later by Squeerat's 'Manifesto'-
a text which stated the facts of the matter far more bluntly and
accurately than I could have. This document led to the formation of a
core group with no ideology, no cohesive structure- other than the
common desire to bring about a change in the fandom- an effort to bring
the fandom back to it's roots- the art, the animation, the fiction, the
wonderous joy that lights a child's eye when he sees Disney's 'Robin
Hood' for the first time, and the inspiration and groundbreaking
innovation that brought Albedo, TMNT, and an entire rennaisance in the
genre of Funny Animals to life.
Noble goals- simple goals. Squeerat, I, and (as we found later)
hundreds of others shared our deep sense of dissapointment that
Lifestylers, Plushophiles, Bestialists, and their ilk had taken
something we had held so dear, wiped their asses on it, and mounted the
resulting mess on a flagpole for all to see. This was a theft not of
property, or a simple fraudulent theft of ideas. This was a case of a
group of people swaggering into a house that we and many other had
built, taking over, and thrusting us to the rear, scornfully telling us
that we were no longer needed, nor wanted. They took our home, turned
it into a brothel, and spat insults at us when we objected.
Of course, our rewards for our efforts were met with
condemnation. We were called nazis, fascists- and those were the nice
names they chose for us. On the other hand, nihilists like random
(small r- he doesn't merit capitals), and rackety (ditto) said we were
taking this all too seriously.
But for two years, we pushed on as best we could. We started a
webring, which became the second-largest in furry fandom. We took to
whatever media was available to us- for the most part, we were
restricted to the internet. We started mailing lists, newsgroups, and
websites. At every turn, we were confronted with two facts: We were
not alone, yet there were people who would stop at nothing to enforce
their 'open mindedness' and 'tolerance' within the fandom, even if it
meant destroying it. Their purile pursuit of selfish pleasure and self-
gratification was more important, they maintained, than the efforts
that I and literally thousands of others had put into this fandom.
We had great victories- we saw our opponents humbled and
marginalized. When random tried posting our Burned Fur site to the
Portal of Evil, it ended within mere days as the farce that it was.
New anthro cons started cropping up that had rules regarding behavior
and the display of adult art. Ou webring continues to grow, as do the
ranks of our supporters.
But we didn't go far enough, fast enough. Our opponents were so
brazen, and so ubiquitous, that our efforts, restricted as they were to
the internet and a few cons, were unable to maintain and thicken the
dangerously thin veil that seperated our tainted fandom from public
scrutiny. We saw that on The Daily Show. There he was- Kevin Duane,
proudly displaying his filth to the prying cameras of comedy central.
There they were- the artists (term used very loosely) who owed their
lifeblood to the sick elements who had stolen our fandom- glibly
humiliating both themselves and waving our fandom's worst shame to
millions of households.
To a certain extent, pinheads like rackety and random had a
point- we weren't going far enough. We were pussyfooting around some
of the largest issues behind the dire straits the fandom was in. We
rarely went after the ringleaders- the few champions of the degeneracy
that was at the core of the cancer that has been steadilly gnawing away
at fandom since ConFurEnce 3.
Well- in the wake of recent events, it has become clear that this
will not do. We must acknowledge our bully pulpit, and take on the
forces that would destroy our fandom by name. We must have the
courage
the mount the ivory tower, accept the uncomforatble mantle of
authority, and state unequivocably our accusations against these foul
excuses for human beings...
These people need to be exposed for what they are- they must be
hounded- persecuted, and driven back into the maggot-ridden depths
from
which they emerged. Until they are, we cannot hope to make any
progress towards the rehabilitation of the fandom they so gleefully and
selfishly destroyed.
I ACCUSE:
Mark Merlino- who masterminded the debacle that was ConFurEnce 3-
advertised almost exclusively through Gay and Lesbian rescources.
The 'man' who came up with the egregiously vile decision to give every
confirmed memeber of FurryMuck a free pass to the con.
I ACCUSE:
Kevin Duane- who mas hallmarked himself as perhaps the greatest
degenerate within the fandom- a despicable porn merchant who has
never
shirked from displaying and pushing his wares to children.
I ACCUSE:
Steve Martin, who has steadily produced an endless stream of
questionable pornographic treacle that has catered to every whim of the
unwanted elements within the fandom. This man is a true whore to the
dollar and the anithesis of everything that stands for artistic
integrity.
I ACCUSE:
Xydexx, Oral Rinse, and the endless ranks of subhuman filth who
have subordinated the truth and the good of this fandom to their own
twisted world view- a view in which nothing is held under the light of
scrutiny, and everything is permissable, as long as it serves their own
selfish needs. It is these people who have stood in defense of the
crimes perpetrated by those listed above, and dozens of others who
would pervert our fandom into a pool of purile and hubristic self-
gratification.
I ACCUSE:
Every collar-wearing, tail-strapped-to-the-ass degenerate who
turned what was once a respectable corner of sci fi fandom into a
virtual singles bar for the sexually dyfunctional. They are little
more than craven beasts, wallowing in their own excretia, and
questioning the 'tolerance' of anyone who complains about the smell.
I ACCUSE:
The Nihilists and fence sitters who sat by and let this all
happen. A single word, a statement of principle, and a little courage
was all that it took- but they found themselves incapable of mustering
the will nor the backbone such an action required. They are truly the
most craven, the most despicable of them all.
The question is staring me in the face: do I give up? Do you
folks ENJOY this? Does having your work denegrated and your fandom
dragged through the mud make you HAPPY? Does the knowledge that
you've
been made the laughing stock of fandom at large, and now, the national
media, fill you with a sense of fulfillment and pride?
If I have one flaw in my addled synapses, it's my propensity to
give a damn. In a world where each new day sees a new atrocity, in a
country where more than half the population can't bother to work up the
effort to vote, and living next to a city that's drowning in it's own
cultural and moral schizophrenia, I try to stay aloof- but it's a
sham. Deep down within me there are the words and memories of
people
Like Martin Luther King, John Rabe, and a thousand others who stood up
against the inevitable, and truimphed. I don't see myself as anything
like their equals- such would be hubris on a biblical scale. But their
principles are something I shall always strive to emulate and
champion. In the face of the hatred and bile spewed at me by a
thousand knee-jerk lifestylers, and the machinations of demons like
Merlino, I cannot help but march doggedly on.
The gauntlet fell when Steve Carrell exposed you for what you are-
you didn't throw it- it slipped from your addled, palsied fingers. YOU
started this- remember that. Be certain that I will.
-T'ieh Pi Pu Kai.
Stand your ground, this is what we are fighting for-
for our spirit and laws and ways.
Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war
for heaven or hell, we shall not wait...
Shall I think of Honour as lies,
or lament it's aged, slow demise?
Shall I stand, as a total stranger
on this day, in this stone chamber?
-VNV Nation (Honour)
--
Buchanan 2000!
Nader 2000!
Make your vote count! |
A call to Arms!. Eric Blumrich 10/31/00 12:34:33 AM <<<